Evidence of meeting #32 for Indigenous and Northern Affairs in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was community.
11:20 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Andy Fillmore
That was very impressive. Thanks, Cassidy.
We're moving into the five-minute questions. We have time for just two of those.
The first is from David Yurdiga.
11:20 a.m.
Conservative
David Yurdiga Conservative Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I would like to thank the witnesses for taking time out of their busy schedules to share with us today.
I'd like to expand on Mr. Rusnak's comments about Métis settlements—that's what we call them in Alberta—which are funded in large part by the province and also partner with industry. It seems they have a lot more programming available to the people who live there. I believe we have seven settlements in Alberta, and I think it's 1.25 million acres they all encompass, so they occupy a large land mass.
Do you think it's important for the Métis people to have a land base? I know it's really important in Alberta. A lot of people tell me they feel as if they have something that's really theirs, their own community. I understand B.C. doesn't have that sort of makeup. Do you think it's important in B.C. that some sort of land base is established?
11:20 a.m.
Minister, Métis Youth British Columbia, Provincial Youth Chair, Métis Nation British Columbia
Yes. Having a land base is directly tied to cultural connectiveness, which is directly tied to mental health. So the lack of a land base here in British Columbia does contribute to challenges. The Métis are spread across our province so we don't have that connection to the land.
I was speaking with an elder recently who said that because we don't have that land, we don't have that connection, which disrupts our identity and our mental health.
You said Alberta has Métis settlements. It's so completely different here in British Columbia, because we don't have that. I think that answers your question.
11:20 a.m.
Conservative
David Yurdiga Conservative Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB
Yes, it does. Thank you.
Things have been changing over the years as far as technology goes. Communication is different from what it was when I was a young man. The youth communicate through multimedia. Does any of your programming involve stuff like Facebook, Snapchat, or whatever else they are using nowadays to reach out to youth at risk?
11:20 a.m.
Minister, Métis Youth British Columbia, Provincial Youth Chair, Métis Nation British Columbia
It doesn't directly involve youth at risk right now. At the youth ministry, we use Facebook, and it has been our number one connector to the youth across the province. However, that's not the same as Gathering Our Voices, gathering our Métis youth in one place for a weekend.
In November, we will be having our second provincial youth forum. When these youth come together and spend a weekend—there are going to be 35 youth; that's all we were funded for—they crave that engagement. They want to be engaged in their culture. When they leave, they are so proud of their identity. They are so proud of their culture and knowing there are other youth like them. Imagine 35 youth of different corners of the province here in British Columbia.
So, yes, we do engage in social media to connect the youth. However, it's not the same as being together, and that's what's missing as a land base as well. If all of our youth were together on our land base, that would connect them to their identity. However, we don't have that here in British Columbia.
Tanya wants to speak to that as well.
11:20 a.m.
Director of Health, Métis Nation British Columbia
May I make a further comment on the land base question? Certainly, as Cassidy has said, Métis have been in this province since the late 1700s. We do have a connection to the land. We do have people who are harvesting regularly. We have a mapping program of our Métis harvesters through the B.C. Métis Assembly for National Resources. Protection of the land is one of the things we definitely strive for, as well as using the animals and harvesting for our community and things like sharing community freezers. Certainly, even though we don't have a land base to say that this is our traditional territory, we definitely are users of the land, and we have that connection through various hunts and similar things our communities take part in.
11:25 a.m.
Conservative
David Yurdiga Conservative Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB
Do the friendship centres work in a collaborative manner with the Métis nation and first nations as far as developing programs?
11:25 a.m.
President Provincial, Aboriginal Youth Council, British Columbia Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres
The B.C. association has an absolutely strong partnership with them in B.C.
11:25 a.m.
Liberal
11:25 a.m.
Liberal
Mike Bossio Liberal Hastings—Lennox and Addington, ON
With respect to Gathering Our Voices, I want to follow up on what Don was talking about, the Feathers of Hope we see in Ontario and eastern Canada. If I understand correctly, Gathering Our Voices is an annual conference youth created for youth. Does it go beyond the conference as far as delivering any kind of connectiveness outside of the conference itself, or is it used as a springboard to create programs or to expand upon existing programs and services?
11:25 a.m.
President Provincial, Aboriginal Youth Council, British Columbia Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres
I would say it goes beyond the conference. What we see a lot around the communities is that as soon as Gathering of Voices ends, they are already starting to fundraise for the next one. We see youth groups and youth councils within friendship centres already planning how they're going to next year's conference.
11:25 a.m.
Liberal
11:25 a.m.
President Provincial, Aboriginal Youth Council, British Columbia Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres
It's friendship-centre driven, but it's open to all communities. We actually have a pretty large Métis population come to Gathering Our Voices, as well as on-reserve first nations, urban aboriginal people, and even representatives of the national council. We've had youth from the Native Women's Association of Canada attend. It's open to any delegate wanting to register.
11:25 a.m.
Liberal
11:25 a.m.
President Provincial, Aboriginal Youth Council, British Columbia Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres
Yes.
11:25 a.m.
Liberal
Mike Bossio Liberal Hastings—Lennox and Addington, ON
— as well as any other indigenous group. Is that right?
11:25 a.m.
President Provincial, Aboriginal Youth Council, British Columbia Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres
An open door policy, basically, is the mentality we have. We're not going to turn you away. We're going to help you. Also, you can continue coming. That's the reality. We're here to help the community, but we're here to help urban aboriginal people.
11:25 a.m.
Liberal
Mike Bossio Liberal Hastings—Lennox and Addington, ON
Originally it had long-term, stable, core funding associated with it, so it was one avenue in which Métis did have some funding, and that was pretty much the only avenue that had incorporated Métis into the funding aspect of the core funding. Is that right? As you mentioned earlier, on the Métis side there are so many areas that aren't services specific to Métis needs. Am I correct on that? Were friendship centres really the only connection you had into any kind of core funding?
11:25 a.m.
Director of Health, Métis Nation British Columbia
That's a really good point you're making, for sure.
To the earlier question around partnerships with the B.C. association, Métis Nation B.C., and First Nations Health Authority, I would say we have lots of great relationships we're building at the provincial level. I can sit and speak with Leslie Varley, who is now the new ED, or the senior staff, Harmony Johnson at First Nations Health Authority. However, those relationships have not trickled down to our communities.
We go back to those schools where those kids are not connected to community. They're learning about first nations culture, not Métis culture. Every door, even though it may be open, is not the right door. When we think about some of the friendship centres, they are called first nations friendship centres. That is a pretty clear message as to who the programming is intended for. That may not be the case once you get through that door, but it's being strong enough to go to the door and open the door, and feeling welcome.
We know the mandate for the friendship centres is for urban aboriginal people, but Métis people have specific needs and specific cultural differences that aren't understood. So at the community level, what the communities look like versus what we look like provincially, is a very different story. We're trying to trickle down and role model really great behaviours where we say we can work together; let's see what we can do with the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer; let's do a B.C. initiative; let's see how we can affect all of our communities. At the community level, it is a different relationship and I think we need to be aware of that.
11:30 a.m.
Liberal
Mike Bossio Liberal Hastings—Lennox and Addington, ON
The 36 chartered communities are mostly urban—
11:30 a.m.
Liberal
Mike Bossio Liberal Hastings—Lennox and Addington, ON
—centres.
Finally, although I know I don't have a lot of time and this is an unfair question, we've often talked about long-term stable funding and self-governance. Looking at the self-governance model, how do you deliver that in an urban setting? On a reserve setting, it's finite because it's land-based. How do we do that in an urban setting? What becomes the central body that is a self-governance body and is also setting the priorities as to what programs need to be delivered to all indigenous communities within that, including the Métis?
11:30 a.m.
Director of Health, Métis Nation British Columbia
For our Métis chartered communities, many of them will work with us to develop proposals to submit to health authorities to do their own health programming in their communities. It's important to remember that our Métis chartered communities are not funded together, so they do bake sales and they literally have offices in people's trunks, and they continue to meet because they are a resilient community.
Also, when they're working with the indigenous communities, there are many areas where that happens very well. Kamloops is a great example of communities working well together, but that's not everywhere. That gets a nod. We have some really great work happening there, but not every community experiences that, and Métis communities can certainly determine what their health needs are and what they need for better health outcomes.
11:30 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Andy Fillmore
Thanks for that concise answer. I appreciate it.
That brings us to the end of this panel. On behalf of the committee, thank you very much indeed for all that you have brought to us and shared with us today. It will have a wonderful impact on our study. We have a lot of gratitude for that.
As you may have heard me mention previously in the day, we have created a portal on our committee's website where if there's more you would like to share, and I'm assuming there might be, we would love to hear more from you to add to the study before it's published.
We'll suspend. We'll start promptly at 12:30. Thanks.
11:30 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Andy Fillmore
It's 12:30 p.m. right on the mark, so we may as well stay on time here.
We're back with the indigenous and northern affairs committee and the study of aboriginal suicide.
Welcome to the First Nations Health Authority. With us we have Patricia Vickers, the director of mental wellness, and Shannon McDonald, deputy chief medical officer. Welcome to you both.
We have an hour, so I'm happy to offer you each 10 minutes, if you can use that, or as much of the 10 minutes as you would like to use. We'll fill the remaining time with questions from committee members.
Patricia, you have the floor for 10 minutes. Thank you very much.