Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee on Sept. 23rd, 2016

[The Chair, Liberal, Andy Fillmore]

You have it.

[Maatalii Okalik]

Qujannamiik. Thank you for honouring my request. It's really in the interest of the listening youth and attendees, as well as for your report.

Qujannamiik for asking that question. I think it's really important that we continue to identify best practices and highlight role models such as those who sit beside me on their journey to continue to serve in the best interests of Inuit in Canada.

My personal journey was looking around and identifying that something was wrong, from a very young age—trying to understand why I had relatives who had died by suicide; trying to understand why I had relatives and people in my community and in Inuit communities with an overarching number with substance abuse, children in care, and virtual homelessness with nowhere to live because of our environment; and why people were so hungry.

I was born in Nunavut but I grew up in Ottawa, and I didn't see that reflected the same way in Ottawa. I always heard that Canada prided itself on its human rights work on the international stage, and I didn't see that reflected in our communities.

I began to ask questions at a very young age. [Witness speaks in Inuktitut] Why? Why are these things there? That's when I began to learn about the history of Canada, where my people were implicated.

With that understanding I was able to critically analyze what was happening around me and make decisions for myself in how I, as an individual, I as an Inuk, and I as a Canadian was going to make healthy choices for my future and in my work for the future of Inuit.

What was missing was that space, that space where that open dialogue happens not only within our homes across Nunavut, but across Canada. That understanding was missing.

We all experience racism within Canada but also within our own communities, and that's an example of the effects of colonization.

What was missing was investment by government for that safe space to occur, as well as for me to understand my resilience as I would be faced with conflict. That resilience is laid out in our language, culture, and practices.

I find when I'm speaking to youth that there is a lot of anxiety and stress around the status of youth. They're in between completing high school and going into the working world, so there is an expectation that you do well in high school, go to post-secondary education, find a good job, find a good partner, and raise a family. There is that linear expectation, but the reality is that it doesn't work that way, especially when we have the risks that we've identified and the social inequities in our homeland.

We're in constant crisis mode, and I was always in constant crisis mode because of our realities and having to respond to crisis instead of being able to focus on that path. If we don't have the opportunity for Inuit children and youth to learn our language, to thrive in our culture and our practices, it's very difficult to understand your resilience as an individual when this crisis comes up. That can have an implication on our day-to-day lives and have an effect on our suicide rates.

The other reason I am where I am today is that I have the will to survive and an interest in living the Inuk way. Let us do so here in Canada.

Qujannamiik.

[The Chair, Liberal, Andy Fillmore]

Thanks very much.

The next question is from Michael McLeod, please.

[Michael McLeod, Liberal, Northwest Territories, NT]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to all of you for your presentations. They were very thorough and informative. They covered all the bases and were very professionally presented. I have to say, I'm very impressed. Also, thank you for sharing with us last night. You certainly have left an impression on me. I know that for a fact, because this morning when I woke up, one of your colleagues' words about what happened to us were ringing in my ears. He said, “Take an apple tree. Rip it out by its roots. Transplant it. Build four walls around it, and pour alcohol over it every day. That's what happened to us, and we won't survive. We'll wilt and die.” That's a very powerful description, and it will certainly be something I'll steal and use whenever I can.

There have been many presentations over the last while in different communities. I heard something this morning from one of the organizations when they did their presentation. They talked about the reluctance for people within the Inuit culture to talk about suicide, to share it. There's silence and there's also shame around discussing that topic. It leads to making this issue not as important as it really is.

All of you have spoken out loudly and very well on this subject, but I'm sure you must have seen or experienced this. How do you get past that? Is it something you have faced? Could you talk about that a little bit?

[The Chair, Liberal, Andy Fillmore]

Louisa.

[Louisa Yeates]

It's a stigma. We talk about stigma. We talk about carrying guilt. When we ask why we are quiet, it's oppression. We've had generations upon generation of oppression. I can use my grandfather's situation as an example. He survived by using sled dogs. That was his way of living. That's how he taught his children. That's how he moved from location to location. That was his manhood. What did they do? They killed them all. What happened? They took his manhood. It's a way of oppression.

I'm going to be specific about men because our statistics show that it's going to be men between the ages of 15 and 24 who are most at risk of suicide. We're always trying to find out why and what's going on. Not only is it partly cultural, but also because their manhoods were taken away. When you're out on the land and you're hunting, you're not loud. You're being very quiet and you're waiting for the animals to come. These two big factors, cultural factors, are always being passed on intergenerationally. We are at a point where we're trying to break the cycle with guys who are our age. We're at the point now where we're trying to give a voice, we're trying to give venues for people to have a voice.

I'm going to respect the time and hand it over. Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Andy Fillmore]

Thanks.

Alicia.

[Alicia Aragutak]

Nakurmiik. I'm just going back to my testimony again. I really believe in this concept because we have an elder within the Qarjuit Youth Council board of directors, and we just held our annual general meeting. We were trying to talk about this topic as well. We expressed very clearly that it's a very difficult topic to talk about. I was trying to consult with my population as to how to go about that and how to approach the situation.

We were questioning ourselves about why this is so hard to talk about and why it isn't considered normal; these are basic human needs. I thought it was very strong when our elder raised her hand and said, “I am very sorry, because in our culture we are observers and that's how we learn.” We respect our elders and we listen and we are guided by our elders, which is a lot of the reality we feel today. She said, “I'm sorry, we did not teach you how to talk. We did not teach you how to express the situation because we were told not to talk about it.” So it is long overdue. I think that as modern Inuit youth today, we need to find ways to find that balance again. Trying to regain communication skills on basic human feelings is something I'm really aiming at. How can we de-stigmatize it? By finding that balance again.

Thank you.

[Michael McLeod, Liberal, Northwest Territories, NT]

I heard Maatalii talk about children in care, and she referred to it as the next residential school. A comparison was made there. We've also had presentations from Correctional Service Canada that talk about our jails being full of aboriginal people, and that would be our next crisis comparable to residential schools. We also know that our facilities and our people are struggling with FAS, so we have many issues that are going to be on the horizon.

Do you think that what we do in the area of helping to deal with the issue of suicide will also help with the other areas that we focus on?

[The Chair, Liberal, Andy Fillmore]

Can I just interrupt for a moment? I see that our youth guests are leaving. I don't know if you're under a timeline, but if you're able to wait, I'm sure that our panellists would love to have a conversation with you, unless you're in a rush to leave. I just wanted to put that offer out there. In about 10 minutes we'll be done.

[A voice]

We have to leave. I'm sorry.

[The Chair, Liberal, Andy Fillmore]

Okay. On the whiteboard outside the door is a website address where people can leave comments on the website about this topic. I encourage and welcome all of you to do so. Take a picture of it with your phone so you have the web link, and we'd love to hear from you. Thank you.

I'm sorry for that interruption. I think someone was going to respond to Michael's last 30 seconds there.

Maatalii.

[Maatalii Okalik]

I definitely recognize that when we're talking about suicide prevention, that has to be an interdisciplinary and holistic approach. I see one of the strengths as prioritizing this and eliminating those social inequities so that we are raising happy and healthy children who go on to become youth.

You talk about the criminal justice system. I can positively affirm that a lot of the actions that are being done are a cry for help based on the risks that I identified in my testimony. Those are results of root-cause issues; and those root-cause issues, I believe, are based on those social and economic inequities across Inuit Nunangat. But coupled with thinking of proactive measures and mitigating factors, I would identify Inuit culture, language, and practices as being also a very strong mitigating factor to those statistics.

Qujannamiik .

[The Chair, Liberal, Andy Fillmore]

Thank you.

We're going to move into the five-minute questions, and we have time for just two of those. The first one is from Arnold Viersen, please.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you for being here today.

My question is probably for Louisa mostly. You just a moment ago were speaking about manhood. One of the things that Michael and I talk about a lot is economic opportunity. Basic economics is food, clothing, and shelter. Those are the big things, and Thomas Gregor, an anthropologist, says that manhood is defined pretty much exclusively in every culture as the ability to protect your family and the ability to provide for your family.

In the north, we typically take in food, clothing, and shelter. It's been taken away from the role of the father or the uncle or the son of the family, and it's been given over more to the government as being responsible for those kinds of things. Can you verify that? How can we give back to men that ability to provide for their families essentially, whether that be by traditional methods or even modern methods?

[Louisa Yeates]

We keep talking about our struggle with trying to figure out how to re-identify ourselves. I can speak on behalf of Nunavummiut, because we have a really great hunter support program. Basically it's under our municipality. They offer services and sell goods—healthy, on discount, for the women—and things like that. Fortunately we have sources like this.

Then we have the men. I think about men our age, and they're.... I'm going to talk a little bit more—I'm sorry, my mind is exploding right now—about how a lot of them are incarcerated right now. They're missing from the communities, and then the ones who are there may not have the means and resources to go out on the land, go hunting, and things like that, to provide for the family. As well, when we have our municipalities servicing in places where it's missing, it's even harder for them to be able to identify with that way again.

We're always talking about finding our balance between our past and our future, but really we need to own our present right now. This is something I will keep saying. It's a big struggle for us right now.

I also wanted to say to Michael that it's not fetal alcohol disorder anymore but actually fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. They're different. This is another big thing we're facing. It's not within the men to feel like they have a say over their pregnant girlfriends, but really it's a family thing. We need to be able to encourage young families. We need to be able to instill parenting skills again. We need to give these roles back to them.

There are no resources for these things. There's not even a place to hold them, even if we had the resources. We need assistance. We need infrastructure. I will keep saying this. We need, need, need, need, need.

[Voices]

Oh, oh!

[Louisa Yeates]

I'm a bit all over the place, but....

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

Well, these things are all tied together.

[Louisa Yeates]

They are all tied together.

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

When we were in Kuujjuaq, we talked to one of the girls there. She told us that there seem to be perverse incentives with regard to some of these things. The folks who have their lives in order don't get the help. The gentleman who works hard is forced to live with his mother until he's almost 30, yet the one who has a child at 17 now suddenly gets a house, essentially. There is that perverse incentive.

Can you confirm that, and is that something we perhaps have to look at?

[Louisa Yeates]

I'm pretty sure I know who you're referring to. This is a battle I've actually been fighting with her for a long time.

Our social housing standards are very low. Our standards of social housing compared with southern standards of social housing are very different. We need to be able to regulate the social housing standards according to our culture, our traditions, and our standards. It's ridiculous, when you think about it. The more social issues you have, the more points you get on the system, which leads you to get a house faster.

Olivia and I presented in front of the standing committee on behalf of the housing study you did. We keep talking about what we need. We need more economic development. We need more opportunities in the north. We need co-operative housing. We need different standards. We need to raise our standards.

I'm all over the place here, but just in closing, I'd really like to say this. To be able to tackle everything, really we need to go to the suicide risk factors. We need to go after housing. We need to go after parenting schools. We need to go after education. We will not solve suicide overnight, and there's no one magical solution, but we will diminish it more quickly if we filter it through the risk factors for suicide.

[The Chair, Liberal, Andy Fillmore]

Thanks for that, Louisa.

We're well over time, and there's one question remaining from Gary.

Gary, I don't want to put you on the spot, but if you feel like you want to hear more, Maatalii wanted to add to that. It's up to you.

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

Perhaps I could do this in two parts. I'll take one quick minute and maybe get a very brief response, and then I have a two-part question for everyone.

First, what's one issue that could be tackled that would have a significant impact on young people? And second, what's a program out there that you know is working on the ground and that could be expanded?

If you're able to answer briefly, please do. Then maybe tackle the issue from the previous question.

[The Chair, Liberal, Andy Fillmore]

Maatalii.