Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee on Oct. 15th, 2018

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon—Grasswood, SK]

Will they provide to the committee the map they referred to?

[The Chair, Liberal, MaryAnn Mihychuk]

Could you provide that to the committee, please?

[Nathalie Lechasseur]

Yes, absolutely. It's on our website, actually, but yes.

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon—Grasswood, SK]

Good.

[The Chair, Liberal, MaryAnn Mihychuk]

We'll move on to MP Rachel Blaney.

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thanks to all of you for being here with us today.

I'm going to start with Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada. One of the things that you got out of your consultation was that the north was really saying, “Enough of the remedial approach; we need transformative infrastructure investment.” Could you let us know what next steps you see yourself taking and how you are planning to work with other departments to make sure that voice is heard very clearly?

[Wayne Walsh]

For next steps, we've now shifted from the engagement and hearing phase of the process to the actual development of the policy framework phase. That's where we're at now. As I mentioned in my remarks, we're now co-developing that framework process with provincial, territorial and indigenous partners. Thirty federal departments are involved.

We're hoping to land the framework in the near future for the government's consideration and approval. We are looking at a number of themes that we'll be bringing forward, including comprehensive Arctic infrastructure. The idea is that the framework will provide the goals and objectives that we collectively want to achieve between now and 2030. The next steps will then be the fulfillment of different investment opportunities as we move forward.

The one thing that was a realization of something we heard quite clearly in our engagement is that planning is key to anything in the north, given the complexities of the climate and environment and what it takes to build things. That's why that 2030 horizon is key.

One thing that is also very important—and I'm happy to hear my colleague from NRCan mention it—is that this is a whole-of-government approach. This is not going to be just a Northern Affairs type of approach. Fellow departments are engaged. They're in for the long haul. That will truly be the approach to delivering on the framework once we land.

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

I think it's important that the communication between departments is really a priority. In a recent report, the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer stated that “Indigenous Services Canada...and Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs [Canada] were unable to provide details of their planned spending” for phase 1 of the investing in Canada plan, the federal government's infrastructure plan.

I'm curious about that. Why are the two departments not sharing the data and figures? Also, how are you making sure that departments and different branches are working together more cohesively to make sure we get the work done on the ground?

[Wayne Walsh]

Thank you for that question. I appreciate it.

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

You're welcome.

[Wayne Walsh]

As for the reasons behind what you've raised, I don't know the specifics between Indigenous Services Canada and my other colleagues within the department of CIRNAC. Again, I will endeavour to bring that back to the committee.

I will say, however, that one of the things we are looking to do in the framework moving forward is to have a more coordinated approach to how we're delivering services in the north, looking more at a whole-of-government perspective. I think the north is in a different place now than it's ever been. We're living in a post-devolution environment in Yukon and the Northwest Territories. We're hoping to get there soon in Nunavut.

So, really, it's about what the Government of Canada's interest in the north is and how we coordinate ourselves moving forward. I think it's important that it's a whole-of-government approach; it's not just one department or one minister, as it was in the past.

You're right. I think building that culture of ongoing communication and collaboration, that way forward, is going to be a key to success if the framework is to deliver on its ambition.

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

Thank you.

To Infrastructure Canada, how does your department work with this department? I'm not going to say the whole name because it takes a lot of time.

One of the things we hear really clearly is that people just need the most basic of services. In your statement, you talked about providing funding for the improvement of health and education facilities that support the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's call to action. These are basic services that really need to be given, and we need that infrastructure. I'm just curious about how you feel you're working with that department to get that information and move forward.

[Nathalie Lechasseur]

Actually, as I mentioned just previously, the project priorities are identified by the provinces and territories.

While the provinces and territories are responsible for setting priorities, the governments must involve Indigenous communities and the other stakeholders that may be interested in this challenge. Since we cover up to 75% of the cost of these activities, we can obtain the remaining funding by working with our colleagues in other departments to ensure that the maximum amount of funding is available.

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

Natural Resources Canada, you've shortlisted 43 projects. I'm just curious as to what percentage of these are actually in the region we're talking about today. I also want to know, briefly, about the 5% for community capacity. Can you tell us how many people are applying to that program to actually build the capacity to write the proposal?

So I have two questions. The first one is about the 43 that you're looking at right now. How many are actually from the region that we're talking about today? I know one of them is from one of my communities, but I'm definitely not in the Arctic. I'm just curious if you could give us that.

You said that 5% of your budget is for community capacity. I'm just wondering what the uptake is on that project.

[Marco Presutti]

In terms of the first question, I'm looking at a map right here, and about 14 of those projects are located in that region.

In terms of the capacity-building stream, we're in a position similar to the one we're in with the 43 projects. For about 10 projects, we're at the point of doing due diligence. We've run through a process whereby we've shortlisted the projects.

Our process, by the way, involved some indigenous community leaders and indigenous stakeholders and some outside stakeholders, who were involved in the review and selection of those particular capacity-building projects. We wanted to make sure that we were bringing outside expertise in for the review of these proposals. We also brought in experts from other government departments.

So it's in the same zone; we have projects that are in the due diligence phase and we're expecting to fund them in the next few months.

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, MaryAnn Mihychuk]

Good.

I have a question for NRCan, or any of you. How many isolated Canadian communities do we have with no road access or coastal facility?

Please provide a map or the number. How many people are isolated?

[Wayne Walsh]

If I were to use the eligibility criteria for nutrition north Canada, which defines “isolated” as being without full access, I believe there are about 156 communities.

[The Chair, Liberal, MaryAnn Mihychuk]

What is the population of these 156 communities? I think I have over 20 communities in my province alone.

[Wayne Walsh]

If I were to ballpark it.... I hate to do this, so I will get back to the committee.

[The Chair, Liberal, MaryAnn Mihychuk]

Okay.

[Wayne Walsh]

There are about 200,000 residents across what we call the Arctic, but not all of them are isolated, so that gives you a bit of a ballpark.

[The Chair, Liberal, MaryAnn Mihychuk]

If you can pull those figures together, you can provide them to the committee.

[Wayne Walsh]

Sure.

[The Chair, Liberal, MaryAnn Mihychuk]

Thank you.

We have MP Don Rusnak next, for seven minutes.