Evidence of meeting #6 for Indigenous and Northern Affairs in the 43rd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was pandemic.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Arnold Viersen Conservative Peace River—Westlock, AB
I couldn't agree more, and that's why it's disgusting that the Liberal government chose today—
NDP
Leah Gazan NDP Winnipeg Centre, MB
I would argue that my respected colleagues are not respecting the discussion that we all agreed upon here. Thank you.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bob Bratina
I agree with that as chair.
Mr. Viersen, if you have another question, go ahead. I'm not going to entertain a response to that question, for the reasons stated.
Conservative
Arnold Viersen Conservative Peace River—Westlock, AB
Have the Métis settlements of Alberta been consulted at all? Have you been reaching out to them on the response to COVID-19?
Deputy Minister, Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs
Mr. Chair, perhaps I could turn to my colleague Jeff Moore, who has been engaged in many conversations with Métis across the country.
Jeff Moore Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Policy and Strategic Direction Sector, Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Yes, indeed we've had a number of conversations with the Métis settlements in Alberta in a few contexts. One context is within the $305-million program that was initiated to support communities. With that portion of funding, we provided funding to the Métis nation, but there is also money that's apparently being provided through a $15-million proposal-driven fund, which is a component of the $305 million. I think the officials from Indigenous Services Canada can probably speak more to that.
From a governance perspective, we've been having ongoing conversations with the Métis about some of their preoccupations with the pandemic and how they're moving forward as a set of communities.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bob Bratina
We're at time at this point.
We'll go to our final questioner in the first round.
Go ahead, Ms. Gazan.
NDP
Leah Gazan NDP Winnipeg Centre, MB
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I was splitting my time with Mumilaaq, but I don't know whether she.... Maybe I'll ask the final question.
I heard Dr. Wong indicate that Nunavut does not have its own public health doctor. I find this concerning in light of the fact that they just found their first case of COVID. They are not being provided with the same support.
I see that you're smiling, Dr. Wong, but one case in our communities is not a laughing matter, particularly in Nunavut, where they're having a serious housing crisis. Does your department have plans to get the proper resources to Nunavut immediately, as not doing so could result in lost lives?
Chief Medical Officer and Director General, Office of Population and Public Health, Department of Indigenous Services
I just want to clarify my comment from earlier. The Department of Indigenous Services doesn't have a medical officer in Nunavut. The reason is that all of the health services, including public health services, are transferred to the Nunavut government. The Nunavut government has a chief medical officer, as well as an entire team of health professionals. I was simply referring to the fact that our department does not have a medical officer there.
The services are provided, very importantly, by the Nunavut government and the Nunavut health department. They are doing a fantastic job in supporting the communities, including in prevention, control and isolation, and are preventing the spread of this disease.
I hope I answered your question.
NDP
Leah Gazan NDP Winnipeg Centre, MB
Yes, thanks very much. I don't know if Mumilaaq would like to add to that.
NDP
NDP
Mumilaaq Qaqqaq NDP Nunavut, NU
Oh, great. Thank you, Chair.
We saw a lot of discussion. I'm going to turn more to financial assistance for individuals, specifically again to Nunavummiut and Inuit in my riding. When we talk about small businesses, we're talking about these different kinds of funding assistance opportunities that are coming through. What we're seeing is a lot of people fall through a lot of different gaps and not everybody necessarily has the information that is needed in order to apply for things like the emergency response benefit.
In my case, in my riding I have so many artists and artisans who are completely out of work for the upcoming months. I'm talking about performers, musicians, carvers, jewellers. All of these people have been stripped significantly of their work and their ability to make money and provide for themselves and their families. For individuals like these, what plan does the federal government have to assist individuals who might not necessarily have the documentation, the resources to say they've made x amount, and they need that assistance from CERB? What is being done to make it more accessible, to recognize that not everybody can fulfill what is needed, but they still need this funding to pay for rent and to feed themselves?
Deputy Minister, Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs
Mr. Chair, thank you very much for the question. Obviously, getting information to communities, particularly where there's a challenge with high-speed Internet, is sometimes difficult at the best of times. Certainly one thing that we sometimes do with some of our programs is to send people into communities to help, but that's not really an option at this point in time because of the lockdown. Having said that, we're using all of our available resources to make sure that people are aware of what resources and options are available to them.
Another thing that's going on is that we're staying in very close touch with the territorial governments in all three territories. This is true south of 60 as well, but speaking in the context of my northern affairs responsibilities, we're engaging very closely with the Government of Nunavut, which is very interested, obviously, in the well-being of artists and others who have small businesses that they sometimes operate less formally—
NDP
Mumilaaq Qaqqaq NDP Nunavut, NU
I'm specifically looking for what's currently being done—and I think that might be time. If we could follow up afterwards, that would be absolutely great.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bob Bratina
Okay, and also we're having problems once again, Mr. Watson, with the translation. You need to get the microphone very close so that—
Conservative
Conservative
Arnold Viersen Conservative Peace River—Westlock, AB
I have another meeting I have to attend as well, so I was wondering if we can wrap this up and then I can go on to that meeting.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bob Bratina
Well, we have two more speakers, so the wrap-up is going to be the conclusion of the speakers list.
The next speaker is Mr. Battiste for six minutes, and then Madame Bérubé....
I'm sorry?
Liberal
