Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee on June 16th, 2016

[Don Rusnak, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Rainy River, ON]

Does that $10 million fast track include all the technical services related to a project? Is that included in that amount?

[Hélène Laurendeau]

Yes, it would be.

[Don Rusnak, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Rainy River, ON]

I've been talking to Chief Peter Collins at Fort William First Nation. He has a number of infrastructure priorities in his community, which borders the city of Thunder Bay. He expressed to me a concern about the technical part of the projects, and getting all the engineering and the environmental assessment work done. Is that going to be available for first nations, or is it going to be flowing to another organization or to technical service organizations?

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, Toronto—St. Paul's, ON]

As the deputy said about technical organization, there's a lot of assistance that's now coming from the committee of the Chiefs of Ontario. They're trying to help first nations with the usual stuff. On the customized issues, the regional office is able to provide the technical people. Sometimes it requires a feasibility study—sometimes—but I think we are really trying to just get on with this stuff.

There were many frustrations as I went coast to coast to coast. They thought they had had this approved and somebody asked for another feasibility study, or somebody asked for something else. Once we have a plan, we want to be able to effect the plan.

[Don Rusnak, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Rainy River, ON]

The requested allocation in budget 2016 is $255 million over two years to help support infrastructure programs from the department. What specific infrastructure projects are being funded under this allocation?

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, Toronto—St. Paul's, ON]

It's in your deck, I think.

On other infrastructure, Mr. Chair, I can table the most current list.

[The Chair, Liberal, Andy Fillmore]

Please, and thank you.

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, Toronto—St. Paul's, ON]

I think we almost have the Attawapiskat contaminated site on some of our lists now, meaning that the things we hear about, we add.

On other infrastructure, it's things like connectivity to Nunatsiavut in Labrador. It's road repair at Tobique First Nation. It's Sheshatshiu road upgrades. It's fibre optics. Those are the kinds of things that go in the column under “other”.

[The Chair, Liberal, Andy Fillmore]

Thank you, Minister.

The next question is from Arnold Viersen, please.

[Arnold Viersen, Conservative, Peace River—Westlock, AB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister Bennett, for being here today. I appreciate the opportunity to ask you a few questions.

I see in the estimates that a lot more mental wellness teams are being brought in. As you probably know, we're currently studying the state of suicide in indigenous communities across the country. I hope that you're following our study as well.

I see you've increased the number of these mental wellness teams from 11 to 43. We've heard from different people that it is difficult to come up with some of the professionals, or even finding professionals to work on these committees. I'm just wondering how finding people is going, and who you are finding.

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, Toronto—St. Paul's, ON]

It's a great question.

When we met with the NAN youth on Monday morning, it was quite shocking to realize that this young man, at 23 years old, has been a mental health worker for four years with no training. When a crisis breaks, it's very hard if the people who are there in a community really don't have the training.

The formal health teams will be able to move into a crisis area as fully trained organizations, and then we will endeavour to get the mental health capacity built up in each of the communities, with two specifically for Attawapiskat because of what they're going through right now.

[Arnold Viersen, Conservative, Peace River—Westlock, AB]

You're definitely leading in the direction I was looking for. They said it's very difficult to find appropriate people to work on these teams. Chief Isadore Day said that often it takes years to build up the trust to even have the ability to do anything.

Are these teams being made up of local people? I guess that's the question. Is that an avenue you're looking at to some degree? He said that often spiritual leaders are the people who are doing these jobs anyway and, as you mentioned, often without training.

Are these the people you're looking to to perhaps give the training and to build the team around, say, three or four individuals from the local area?

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, Toronto—St. Paul's, ON]

There are a couple of things.

The teams that are mobile will be set in regions and then will go in during a crisis. We are learning a lot, as you say, in terms of how we build capacity. We heard from the kids when we were in some of these remote communities that trust in speaking to somebody locally is not there. They're worried about confidentiality, worried about telling their stories, so sometimes having somebody come from outside feels safer to people.

I've been very interested in looking at Peggy Shaughnessy's program, RedPath. They go in, but then they stay in touch online and are able to stay in touch with people they've made that primary relationship with.

We're exploring all of these. Obviously, it's in Dr. Philpott's department. My job is to make sure that these kids have hope and are getting what they know they need in language, culture, land-based programs, housing, and water, the things that the kids are really worried about, as well as the recreation centres that weren't previously on the agenda.

[Arnold Viersen, Conservative, Peace River—Westlock, AB]

How many members are on one of these teams, generally? Do you know?

[The Chair, Liberal, Andy Fillmore]

Keep to one minute, please.

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, Toronto—St. Paul's, ON]

That's being negotiated, but I think the moving teams are of four people. I would sort it out, but it's in the backgrounder to the press release that came from Dr. Philpott.

[Arnold Viersen, Conservative, Peace River—Westlock, AB]

Where are these 43 teams going to be located?

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, Toronto—St. Paul's, ON]

Those 43 teams are in communities that have been deemed as high risk. There are the four moving teams, and then the 43 teams will be.... In ramping up, there will be a priority-setting as to the people who really have been struggling and need it most.

[Arnold Viersen, Conservative, Peace River—Westlock, AB]

It's the 43 teams I'm talking about. What is the composition of those looking like? Is it going to be two or three local people giving training?

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, Toronto—St. Paul's, ON]

What it looks like will be determined with the first nation.

I think you know that sometimes it's the great hockey coach or the great teacher. There are other people, we know, in communities. We can build their mental health capacities so that they can do the most they can for these kids. As opposed to a health care problem, we get these kids feeling good about themselves by creating health.

[The Chair, Liberal, Andy Fillmore]

Thank you.

The next question is from Gary Anandasangaree, please.

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Scarborough—Rouge Park, ON]

Minister and your colleagues, thank you very much for joining us once again.

I want talk about child welfare. Last week we had Cindy Blackstock here. She gave a very engaging presentation, and we had a very candid conversation.

I'd like to get a sense from you of your strategy for child welfare and how we move forward.

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, Toronto—St. Paul's, ON]

Thank you for that question. It's something that has bothered me for a very long time, I think even in my first set of remarks at the AFN. Overhauling the child welfare system is what we have to do. As you know, we have more kids in care now than at the height of the residential schools. This has to stop.

If kids are not able to keep their language, culture, and personal cultural identity, they do badly in health choices, education, and economic outcome. We are really interested in looking at a new way of doing this. We as a government don't see ourselves just as a funder anymore; we see ourselves as a provider, and that means working with the provinces and territories.

I'm very pleased that Minister Duclos will have a summit with the social services ministers, I believe in September. We'll have a conference that leads into the negotiations concerning how we overhaul this.

In the meantime we're working with Dr. Blackstock to again stand up the advisory committee. They had two good reports on the changes that needed to be made. In this first tranche, we've been able to provide the enhanced prevention dollars that allow it to be in the provinces that didn't have it until now. We are going to make these changes, particularly around the delivery of services in a culturally based way.

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Scarborough—Rouge Park, ON]

She is suggesting that the adequate amount of funding for that is about $200 million per annum. I know that the way we're structuring it, most of our resources for it are back-loaded.

How do we gradually get to $200 million? I think one of the frustrations she expressed was with the concept of incremental equality, which is a problematic notion. How do we get to a point at which we actually have equality of funding?

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, Toronto—St. Paul's, ON]

We want to move to a system that has a plan and is funded appropriately. In the meantime, I think we are worried about capacity in terms of what is on the ground and how we can build capacity in communities. It's not only the money; it is about the capacity and about principles.

Dr. Blackstock and I talk often about how removing children from their families because of poverty seems absolutely wrong. They have a nice project in North Dakota and South Dakota whereby you cannot remove a child for poverty. If there's no food in the fridge, we should get some food into the fridge.

Some of the values and principles around the rules, such as about every kid having to have their own bedroom or their own cupboard or about there not being a fire extinguisher.... I think many families have felt that these are just excuses to take the kid away. Also, there's apprehension....

Everybody knows that we have to make changes, because the risk-averse way this is run now, about.... Obviously, you don't want to have a child who has been harmed at all. Going back to the basics, the best interests of the child have to include cultural safety.