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

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

Could I just have her—

[The Chair, Liberal, Andy Fillmore]

We are out of time, and also Jeannie had her hand up. I'm sorry.

The final question, and it's a three-minute question, is from Romeo Saganash.

I would add we were meant to hear from the Ilisaqsivik group today, from Clyde River—the other James Arreak, I guess—but their plane was cancelled. However, we do have submitted testimony from them, and we're going to make a time to meet with them again and delve into this, so thanks for underlining that.

Go ahead, Romeo, please.

[Romeo Saganash, NDP, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC]

I'm prepared to let Jeannie take a bit of my time if she wants to answer the previous question, and if there's time, I have a very personal one for Shuvinai.

[Jeannie Arreak-Kullualik]

Thank you very much.

When you go to the capital cities in each of the provinces, you see billboards offering free English as a second language or free evening classes for French as a second language. We don't have that luxury here. We would like to provide free Inuktitut as a second language, but we don't have the resources. We don't have the capacity or the infrastructure to provide that. Those support systems are available only through the churches, through religion.

Another thing we wanted to create was with Piqqusilirivvik. That was initiated through the Inuit organizations in partnership with Nunavut Arctic College and the Department of Education. It uses the Greenland model of the folk school, where you relearn what your parents lost or didn't have time to teach you: to skin, hunt, follow the ice conditions, and read the weather.

[Romeo Saganash, NDP, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC]

I listened very carefully to your personal testimony and your personal experience with suicide. One of the questions you asked yourself was, “What did I do wrong?” As you asked that question, I wondered what kinds of services were provided to you to help you in that trying moment, in that difficult time, or was there a lack of services to assist you in that trying moment?

[Shuvinai Mike]

I think we have those questions. Every now and then there were different services, but through a referral, which I had also mentioned in the last inquest. It was by calling the mental health office, but through a referral and the 1-800 number that's provided by GN, the Government of Nunavut, but also at the same time it was limited. I was mainly supported through the elders and through self-help. I know I only ended that like that because I'm sure I was not the only one who felt that way at that moment. This morning I did have anxiety. That's why I always talk about the terminology about suicide. It gives a bit of anxiety if you have been impacted.

[The Chair, Liberal, Andy Fillmore]

Thank you.

Mr. Lampe, you wanted to add something.

[Johannes Lampe]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

It's a really important question. After having lost a brother, a nephew, and a son, I had to learn to say I love you” after the fact. Today I'm able to say that to my grandchildren and to my wife and daughter and to others who I know are going through a hard time.

When I see someone is going through a hard time, I have to say, “I care about you, and if you need to talk, we can talk.” For parents and grandparents, the most important thing is to learn to say “I love you”. I believe that is what our children and our grandchildren are looking for from each other. I believe that is the most important thing that can help prevent suicide.

[The Chair, Liberal, Andy Fillmore]

Thank you.

It is hard to imagine a more powerful and fitting note to end on. Thank you for that, Mr. Lampe.

Thank you to all the panel members for your testimony, and for sharing so freely your experience and what is in your heart. This is going to help us a great deal. Thank you very much.

We are going to suspend for an hour, and we will be back with the third panel of the day at 12:30 p.m.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Andy Fillmore]

Okay, we're going to start this afternoon's session.

Welcome to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs. It's nice to see our witnesses again. We had a nice discussion last night as well.

For those in the gallery, we have simultaneous translation in English, French, and Inuktitut, so please feel free to use the headsets at the door if you would like to use that service.

We also have a public health nurse in the room with us today who is available—she's waving; thank you very much for the wave—if anyone would like to have a chat with her at any time. She'd be more than happy to have that chat.

I'm just going to go over the process we use in these meetings so that everyone is aware. We have three organizations speaking in this panel. Regardless of the number of representatives, each organization gets 10 minutes to present in total.

I have these little cards, and when we get to nine minutes, I'm going to hold up a yellow card. That means you'd better start to come to the end, and then a red card means to really finish up.

The same cards will be used when the members of the committee are asking questions. I'll be a little more clear about that when the time comes and we get to that part in the afternoon.

Without wasting any more time, I'm really happy to welcome from the president of the National Inuit Youth Council, Maatalii Okalik. Thank you very much for joining us. You are the sole representative of your organization today, so you have the full 10 minutes.

You have the floor. Thank you.

[Maatalii Okalik, President, National Inuit Youth Council]

Qujannamiik.

Good afternoon, honourable chair, members of the standing committee, Inuit elders and youth, and all attendees.

My name is Maatalii Okalik, and I testify today as the president of the National Inuit Youth Council within Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, representing Inuit youth from across Canada.

Before I began, I tabled the following documents, as I reference them throughout the testimony for the record: the National Inuit Suicide Prevention Strategy by Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami of this year; the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's final report in 2015; the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's 94 Calls to Action in 2015; the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples' final report from 1996; and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People.

As you are aware, there are approximately 60,000 Inuit Canadians who contribute greatly to this country and have done so well before Canada was created. Inuit youth make up the majority of that population, and in my term thus far, they continue to inspire me with their strength and resilience and their vested interest in preserving and promoting our language, culture, and practices and in seeing that suicide is eradicated.

Suicide in our 53 communities that span half of Canada's land mass and coastline is an epidemic. It has been declared a crisis in some regions. All our regions have called for action for decades to address the rates of suicide among Inuit. The rates of suicide among Inuit in regions are five to 25 times the rates of suicide for Canada as a whole and internationally.

It is recognized that suicide is 100% preventable. There must be a national discussion with a national response. Now that we are finally discussing it nationally, the “why” of suicide must be recognized and understood. To me, this is a dialogue that does not require concerted efforts involving fact-finding on the part of government to then lead to an evidence-based discussion that would only then yield validation to address the issue to eradicate suicide. This has been done, both by you and by us. When I say us, I say indigenous people of Canada. The “why” of suicide can be explained in Canada's history, in the truth that is not known by all Canadians.

I recognize the history before the creation of Canada whereby Inuit were at the epitome of self-determination, exercising the way of life that is at the core of our being. Suicide prevention is returning to this level of self-determination. How? It is through a concerted effort on the part of all Canadians: the federal government fulfilling its fiduciary responsibility to its citizens and implementing treaty agreements, which we are all party to, and changing policy and budget allocations according to our needs; Canadian society as a whole, recognizing and respecting the history of colonization and our right to live as a people in our homeland within Canada, and playing an active role in reconciliation; as Inuit continuing to champion our language, culture, and practices as healthy individuals, parents, and also playing an active role in reconciliation in our communities.

The why has been entrenched in the final report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's final report from witnesses who have testified before your standing committee in the past, through the very need to have modern treaties: our land claims agreements in existence, and within the National Inuit Suicide Prevention Strategy.

None of this is new. Inuit Canadians do not have the same quality of life as the majority of our fellow citizens. In Inuit Nunangat 39% live in crowded homes, versus 4% of other Canadians; 29% of Inuit aged 25 to 64 in Inuit Nunangat have earned a high school diploma, versus 85% of all Canadians. In Inuit households in Nunavut, 70% do not have enough food to eat, versus 8.3% of all households in Canada.

The number of physicians per 100,000 people in Nunavut is 30, versus 119 in urban health authorities across Canada.

The average life expectancy for Inuit is 70.8, versus 80.6 for all Canadians. Not only are we dying younger due to the aforementioned social inequities, but the leading cause of death in regions can be attributed to suicide.

Suicide prevention is closing the gap of social inequities for Inuit Canadians. It also includes creating cultural continuity.

I can positively report that today Inuit youth are in a state of identity crisis. To your predecessors who were once seated in the House of Commons, this would be very good news. Why do I say this? It is because strategic assimilation policies and acts by government to create relationship dependencies with government have proven to be—as reflected in our statistics today—very successful, to an extent.

You and your honourable colleagues, however, have the ability to reverse such a reality and take a leadership role in contributing to the elimination of social inequities. A key area of this important work ahead of you and us is Inuit cultural continuity. Mobilizing Inuit knowledge for resilience and suicide prevention is a mitigating factor for suicide. Our language and our culture are key.

It is in the interest of Inuit youth—the majority of our population, and the fastest-growing population, with more and more young families—to reverse the negative cycles of intergenerational trauma by federal policies and raise healthy Inuit children. There is also a responsibility on government to contribute to the nurturing of healthy Inuit children as well. This is also a suicide prevention requirement. Ensuring access to a continuum of mental wellness services for Inuit reflective of our culture is another identified solution. We must heal the unresolved trauma and grief.

Inuit youth must have a successful completion rate in education, both in the western ways of knowing and in our ways of knowing. Allocations by government for education of Inuit residing in and outside of our modern treaty jurisdictions is integral to this solution. Again, these solutions are not new.

I look to the Truth and Reconciliation calls to action, and as I speak for Inuit youth, I point specifically to call to action number 66, which indicates:

We call upon the federal government to establish multiyear funding for community-based youth organizations to deliver programs on reconciliation, and establish a national network to share information and best practices.

This is achievable, and I see it as a solution that requires action from the federal government and ensures a holistic approach on a community-by-community basis for suicide prevention. It is everyone's responsibility. Communities know what they need, but they require the appropriate investment to do it. Short-term funding that yields short-term results can no longer be the norm. Let us do this together.

The term “renewing our relationship” is also not new. It is the take-away from the RCAP report dating back to the last century. This continues to be a repeated statement by government into today. Let us ensure that there is action attached to it. Let us truly see the Inuit-to-crown relationship defined and honoured.

As I think about suicide, I recognize the complexities involved in the “why” as well as in the “how” when it comes to eradicating it. It must be a holistic approach whereby Inuit have the ability to fulfill the level of self-determination we seek within Canada, where we choose how we address suicide with Canada as our equal partner. Our youth today and tomorrow depend on it.

I commend the standing committee and its members for prioritizing suicide, as we have made it our priority as well. I look forward to the report that will be tabled next year as a result of these hearings and research, as Canada celebrates its 150th anniversary on the world stage.

Suicide must be eradicated. Social inequities that Inuit face, compared to our fellow Canadians, are intolerable. Double standards can no longer exist.

To quote the Right Hon. Prime Minister of Canada, it's 2016.

Qujannamiik. Nakurmiik. Thank you. Merci.

[The Chair, Liberal, Andy Fillmore]

Thank you very much, Maatalii, for that and for speaking on behalf of your organization.

We're going to continue through and hear from all of the panellists before we go to questions. I'm very pleased to welcome, from the Qarjuit Youth Council, Alicia Aragutak, president, and Louisa Yeates, vice-president.

You have 10 minutes to share between you. Thank you.

[Alicia Aragutak, President, Qarjuit Youth Council]

Thank you very much for having us.

Today we will be delivering our testimony on behalf of the youth of Nunavik. I will be splitting this 10 minutes with my colleague, who will introduce herself.

Who are we? The Qarjuit Youth Council is a regional youth organization that advocates on behalf of the youth of Nunavik, which makes up more than 65.9% of the Nunavik population. Our partnerships are with other regional organizations that are key to our success in servicing the needs of the youth.

We consult with our population to solidify current situations and issues and propose solutions that come directly from the youth. We would like to mention the recent consultations that the Qarjuit Youth Council initiated to confirm with our population our priorities targeted for the coming year—mental health and suicide awareness—which expand beyond mental health. This involves discussions of our past, our present, and, most crucially, our future.

The current situation is that the youth are feeling the impact of the drastic modernization within the last three generations. Most of the population agree that currently the youth are going through a cultural identity crisis. We strongly feel that the youth today have not, to their full potential, been passed down their true identity as Inuit, which we feel as a region has a major impact on the self-esteem and self-confidence levels in our youth population.

The loss of self-identity means youth do not have a solid foundation in their path of life. We believe this has a greater impact on the unfortunate statistics of suicide within our region. Of course there are other factors, such as the high cost of living, lack of housing, and minimal regional resources in all aspects of our region.

Nunavik also has programs and initiatives to keep youth on their feet. There are great programs, such as the on-the-land program, but the programs are inconsistent, with a lot of budgetary constraints.

Stigma is a very big topic within our region, and is a major topic that we are starting to discuss within the Nunavik region. It is a difficult topic to talk about and requires delicate and immediate attention. With available services and resources in all levels of government, we wish to take proper, culturally appropriate steps to take these discussions to the next level.

When we talk about suicide, we cannot just focus on one situation. It is a global topic that intertwines with other aspects of our community.

Who we are and where we place ourselves within our society play a great role, so it is important for us to start de-stigmatizing these important topics, such as suicide rates, teen pregnancies, sexual orientation, religion, and a lot of other topics related to education on human nature.

There are our past factors. We can all agree that our realities today are not what we know of our past history. Inuit are strong and resilient. Inuit survived in the harsh environment of the Arctic and had their own ways of governing their mobile communities. Inuit had their own education system within their community and the environment to take on their part of the society. The education was cultural, covered all aspects of Inuit life, and touched upon medicine, geography, spirituality, and so much more of what was relevant to the time and place.

We have used our own system to survive for thousands of years, and today we are not able to say that we have our own system. We are in the process of adapting to modern society as Inuit get to define what that really is. We are constantly trying to keep updated to today's ways of life. To get to this point, a lot of traumatic events have happened to our people, our language, and our identity. Of course we have to consider the major impacts of the unfortunate statistics of our region.

I will pass it on to my colleague, who will now introduce herself.

[Louisa Yeates, Vice President, Qarjuit Youth Council]

Hi again. It's great to be here. My name is Louisa Yeates. I'm vice-president of the Qarjuit Youth Council and I'm going to continue on. Thank you.

With regard to regional components, education within Nunavik starts with early childhood development within the day care system. Our children are taught at a young age in their mother tongues. These children hold the legacies of our futures, whether they are aware of it or not. As they transfer from day cares to the regular school sector, they are taught mainly in Inuktitut for the first three years.

As education is essential for everyone, we seem to be lacking in adequate teachings for these children to be able to develop and establish a future for our region. We often speak about being able to acquire support from the parents and the guardians, but to be honest, we are in a state of decolonization and have a generation that was so damaged by the residential school system that these impacts are passed on without intent.

With a high school dropout rate of almost 95%, we need to revive and remobilize our region and stimulate change in the perception of education. Inuit youth have voiced their concerns on how important it is for them to be able to connect and fill the gap that seems to be growing with the generations before. As they hold the key to our traditional and cultural learnings that our youth aspire to, it is clear that to be able to gain back some identity and confidence, youth need to be able to learn about where they came from and who they really are to be able to build a solid foundation on which they can build the rest of their lives. We need more support in the sense that we need to have more spaces and places to be able to hold and deliver these services.

Nunavik's inadequate housing situation is also a major factor in our region's issues that relate to the risk factors and high suicide rates. Along with the high cost of living, it is not easy for our youth to have no options when it comes to their living situations. Sometimes they are caught up in overcrowded, not-well-maintained dwellings, and it becomes overwhelming as the pressure to just survive is immense.

As well, when abuse is in a home and there's nowhere to go, youth often turn to anything, mostly negative outlets, to help them cope. With a population of over 13,000 in Nunavik, we only have 3,000 social housing units. With high costs of living and rent increments of 8% on a yearly basis, surviving is strenuous and tiring, and it's often difficult to see past those walls. Nunavik is in need of assistance to relieve the stresses and risks that the lack of sufficient housing brings to our people. We need additional support to raise our communities above settling for the least. There needs to be more funding allocated to the housing needs and high cost of living in the north.

Since the signing of the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement in 1975, our population has quadrupled in size. The resources needed are not keeping up with the drastic population changes and the high cost of living. In most chapters of the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement, these issue are not on a par with our current situation. Whether it is jobs to feed our families, land management to create businesses, or quality improvement in education, health, and all aspects of community development, we need to be given resources that are easily accessible for our regions.

On health care, the Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services has been able to take major leaps and bounds when servicing our region's growing needs. They have identified factors contributing to suicide risks, established reach-out strategies, and formed a Nunavik suicide response plan. It's still in the works, but it's a major step in moving forward to be where we need to be, yet it still seems light years away.

I'm going to pass it to Alicia to conclude. Thank you.

[Alicia Aragutak]

Okay, I will just conclude.

We'd like to propose to the standing committee and we'd like to set out long-term plans that are targeted toward the suicide risk factors—healing from past traumas, putting forward and implementing the TRC 94 calls to action. We specifically mention number 66, which Maatalii has mentioned as well, whereby the youth would have a community-based program that would have great impact on re-educating, learning about important history, and solidifying their identity; healing centres that are culturally oriented and specified for young individuals; improved living standards; and improved housing situations, etc.

As a policy-making entity, we would like to call upon you to take action, as our fellow Canadian influential body, to recognize that modern youth need resources to identify the roots of our identity and to assist us in educating decision-makers on our colonial events, which have had a great impact on our statistics in our region.

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Andy Fillmore]

Thank you very much for that.

We'll move right along to Nina Ford, who is representing the Nunatsiavut government youth division.

Thanks, Nina.

[Nina Ford, Youth Representative, Youth Division, Nunatsiavut Government]

Thank you.

[Witness speaks in Inuktitut]

Good afternoon. It's good to see you guys again.

My name is Nina Ford, and I am here today as the youth representative from Nunatsiavut, where everybody waves and everybody knows your name.

Nunatsiavut is the home of five Inuit communities, all found along the northern coastline of Labrador. From north to south they are Nain, Hopedale, Postville, Makkovik, and Rigolet.

It is also the home where the leading cause of death is suicide. Trying to explain to non-indigenous people the gruelling effects of suicide among indigenous people and our communities is nearly impossible. It is nearly impossible to put into words.

I know you all understand stats, so I'll give you some. In 1997 the results of the regional survey showed that 33% of respondents in Nain have seriously thought of suicide, and that is one-third of that population. Of the respondents in Hopedale, 25% have seriously thought of suicide, and that is one-quarter of that population.

Between the years 1993 and 1998, there were one to five suicides among Labrador Inuit each year. In the year 2000 it skyrocketed to nine suicides. In 2001 and in 2002 there were one and two suicides. Taking you to 2003, there was an epidemic number of suicides, and that number was 13 in that year. There were five suicides in the year 2004 and seven suicides in 2005. Over the last 23 years, there have been over 100 Labrador Inuit who have taken their own lives. It doesn't stop.

I did an interview for the CBC's Labrador Morning on September 9. That was just a few weeks ago, and there have been two more suicides.

There is a common feeling for those who are victims of suicide, including those who have lost a son, a daughter, a sister, an uncle, a friend, or even someone they just know. Every loss leaves a common sting, or a common numbness, and that aching in your chest. After a suicide loss or in dealing with those who contemplate suicide, a common feeling is helplessness. You feel helpless. When you lose someone to suicide, your immediate and everlasting grief is, “I should have known” or “I could have helped him or her” or “I shouldn't have said this”. Mainly it's “I should have known”. It's immediate self-blame. That's not just a feeling: it's a burden. It's a heavy burden that is carried around with you for the rest of your life.

The population of Makkovik is approximately 370 people. The population of our largest community within Nunatsiavut, which is Nain, is approximately 1,200 people. A loss within our Inuit communities is felt within our region as a whole, as opposed to losing someone in Ontario, where the only ones who are affected are the ones who have lost that individual. In a small community such as Makkovik or Nain or Postville, when you lose someone it affects everybody, not just the family. Everybody is affected.

Suicide is such a common tragedy that every time the phone rings your heart stops. It's not a cancer loss, or a boating accident, a loss that you have no control over. When it comes to suicide, it's a choice. There is some control that can be taken, and needs to be taken, especially with those who have attempted suicide already or contemplated it. So what do you do? What do I do?

Somehow our advances and knowledge about this are not sufficient. Neither is our counselling. We have not succeeded in bringing about peace or reducing overall suffering. This situation brings me to the conclusion that there may be something seriously wrong with the way we conduct our affairs, something that if not corrected in time could have disastrous consequences for the future of our people.

Sure, we could add youth hang-outs or programs for youth to attend in our communities. You can build the most expensive buildings in our communities, and no one can deny the material benefits of modern life. But we are still faced with suffering, perhaps more now than before. It is only sensible to try to strike a balance between material development on one side, and the development of spiritual, cultural values on the other.

In order to bring about great change, we need to revive and strengthen our Inuit values and culture. We also need to deal with the larger social issues such as housing and children in care. I see all these as suicide prevention measures. We need to work on bringing back our inner voices that were damaged and silenced through generations of our ancestors' suffering from relocation, residential schools, and other generational trauma.

I hope that you share my concerns about the present suicide crisis, and that you will join me in calling on all humanitarians who share this concern and proceed to take progressive approaches to a brighter future, for each individual is eligible to help shape these needs.

[Witness speaks in Inuktitut]

[The Chair, Liberal, Andy Fillmore]

Thank you, Nina.

We're going to go to the rounds of questions from the members of the committee.

The first question is going to come from Gary Anandasangaree.

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

Thank you, once again, for that succinct presentation.

There were a number of issues that you touched on. I want to pick up on something Nina said about children in care. It's not an area that we've had a great deal of discussion on. I'm wondering if each of the organizations could speak briefly to how that's affecting the community. What are the issues? Tell us if it's parallel to the decisions of the Canadian Human Rights Commission on aboriginal children in care, and tell us what effects this has had on individual youth.

[The Chair, Liberal, Andy Fillmore]

Maatalii, would you like to start?

[Maatalii Okalik]

Sure. Thank you for that question.

With respect to children in care, I require clarification. Is it for children who have been apprehended and are in the care system?

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

Maybe I misunderstood when you mentioned children in care. The assumption I had was that it was young people who are apprehended by the children's aid society or are in some form of government care. So it could be primarily the children's aid society, but it could be adoption, foster care, or other forms of care that are outside of the children's families.

[The Chair, Liberal, Andy Fillmore]

Nina has her hand up just to clarify.

[Nina Ford]

Yes, that's what I meant. When there are parents who are struggling, when children are taken away from them, sometimes those children are sent outside of Nunatsiavut, so their culture is completely not around, and that also brings many other struggles along with it. It brings on more struggles for the parents because their children are away from them, and then it brings on troubles for the children who are taken away. That's what I meant.

[The Chair, Liberal, Andy Fillmore]

Okay, did you want to pick it up from there then?