Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee on March 20th, 2018

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

Minister Philpott will be better able to explain that.

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

We'll leave that to her then.

Here's the other question I have for you.

[A voice]

It's Northern Affairs.

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

In terms of housing and the distribution, we made a decision that Inuit wanted control over Inuit housing, so last year some went to Inuvialuit—

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

You haven't done a very good job.

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

—the Northwest Territories. This is a distinctions-based approach...Nunavik and Makivik corporations building all kinds of housing....

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

There hasn't been much built. You promised $240 million over 10 years, which is $24 million a year. That equals 60 units. We already know they need 3,000. They're that far behind.

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

This budget is for $400 million more.

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

Okay, good.

Let me ask you about this nutrition north program. I was up there: 12 Spartan apples cost $11.69. Tomatoes are $10.39 a kilogram. Then I go to milk which is not bad; two litres are $6.39. The big kicker is this Tropicana orange juice, two litres for $17.29. We have a bag of chips at $6.09. Five kilograms of Robin Hood flour would be $21.29.

The Auditor General found that the present system with subsidized retailers in Nunavut is not working. You know the two I'm talking about, Taqqut and Northmart. There's no auditing of this. There is none. Retailers get $100 million. They're going to increase it to $120 million. There is no way of verifying that these stores are passing on these subsidies. I just gave you the prices. Do you know what the price of this orange juice is in Ottawa? It's $6.

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

I don't drink orange juice.

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

It's $17 up north.

I visited eight communities in nine days.

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

All of that is all we did, and I think Paul can tell you that. It's the reason we want to overhaul the nutrition north program. We also want to be able to support hunters and harvesters in country food and fishermen with the kinds of things that they want—

[The Chair, Liberal, MaryAnn Mihychuk]

Thank you.

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

—to be able to feed their families in their traditional way. There's no question that the program.... Nellie Cournoyea is the chair of the advisory board to nutrition north—

[The Chair, Liberal, MaryAnn Mihychuk]

Thank you.

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

I think it is a very revered Inuit.... But there is an audit, and Paul will tell you—

[The Chair, Liberal, MaryAnn Mihychuk]

All right.

Questioning now moves to Gary Anandasangaree. I understand he will split his time with MP Danny Vandal.

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

We won't be splitting time, Madam Chair.

Minister, welcome back, and welcome to the panel as well.

I know you have appeared here a number of times since being appointed minister in 2015. Your level of confidence and enthusiasm today is quite different from what I think it has been in the last two and a half years. I'm reflecting on a lot of the things that have been done.

Can you maybe give us your top three in terms of what you feel confident about in your new role, but also where we've come from since the beginning of 2015?

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

Obviously the most important thing is the relationship. I think people see that our government is committed. It's the fact that the Prime Minister has been very clear that this is the most important relationship, I think from his speech at the UN, to the Finance Minister and us having been able to deliver on the two things, improving the quality of life, but also the understanding of self-determination.

I think our fight, with Dr. Philpott, for control over child welfare.... To me, that is what eats away at the heart of all indigenous people, that their children are being taken into non-indigenous families. It is a millennium scoop. I think the fight we're doing right now to have indigenous children— first nations, Inuit, and Métis children—raised as first nations, Inuit, and Métis is going to be the way we feel proudest of having turned this around. It's gone on for way too long.

In our progress on the truth and reconciliation calls to action, the fact that we can get going on our federal or shared.... There is also the way that there seems to be a movement now in terms of schools and universities. There is an understanding about the need to learn what we didn't learn in school, and I think Canadians are really coming with us.

There is still horrible racism that we have to deal with. There is horrible child abuse that we have to deal with. I think the fact that people see we are speaking out loud about these things and being able to move forward is what I feel proud of.

It's the young people who can see their way out of the colonial ways. They don't want to be part of the status quo. They can see that just being consultants and lawyers to communities instead of building capacity within their communities.... I think it's very exciting. For me to go to a convocation at Laurier University, with 23 indigenous students graduating with MSWs, those are the things that make me feel pleased. I won't take credit for it, but I am pleased to see the movement we're getting on this path and journey of reconciliation.

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

With regard to the things that Kevin spoke about with respect to nutrition north, and other concerns that we still hear from time to time, how do you justify that? How do you reconcile that with the new departments, as well as the relative progress we've seen in a number of different areas?

We understand we have a long way to go, so how do we reconcile that gap?

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

I think, again, it's about getting rid of paternalism and moving to partnership. These programs need to be codeveloped with partners. We are trying to get out of the business of delivering programs and being able to build the institutions that will look after themselves in an indigenous-led way.

I think particularly around country, food, and respect for traditional ways of feeding families, that is work in progress. I think we are going to see food security as very much a part of the new Arctic policy framework, and that we will see, as Mary Simon's report said, focusing on people and communities, and listening to what their needs and priorities are.

It is about a different way of working.

[The Chair, Liberal, MaryAnn Mihychuk]

Questioning now moves to MP Arnold Viersen.

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

Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you to the minister for being here.

Minister, Loon River First Nation is located just outside of Peace River in my riding and it did not submit an application for the Canada summer jobs grant due to the discriminatory practices in the attestation. Chief Bernadette Sharpe wrote me and she said, “We hold to the values taught by our elders, and will not compromise for a few dollars.”

As you know, the Canada summer jobs programs provides training and skills training for students across Canada, especially in the first nations communities in my riding.

On behalf of Loon River First Nation, I'm seeking your explanation as to why first nations in my riding are expected to choose between honouring their elders' values and respecting traditional values and funding for their communities.

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

I'm sorry to hear that because I think that in terms of the way forward this is about—in my understanding—traditional values and being able to honour the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and being able to make sure that everyone is looked after. Two-spirited people were very much part of indigenous culture and very important people in their community. I think that there are real problems with the way...and with some of the organizations that had been funded before that were discriminating and so that this.... I think that if there were great jobs that could—

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

Do you not see her point, though? She's not willing to sign this attestation due to her own conscience or the band conscience or whatever the decision was made there. She can't sign that attestation. They lose out on the funding that they normally receive through the Canada summer jobs program.

Are you suggesting that they're being discriminatory, that particular nation is being discriminatory?