Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee on May 15th, 2020

[Lorraine Whitman]

It's very important that we look at the youth, especially where the violence is. Youth and the children are still in the home where the violence exists. We need to really take charge and be able to implement and be proactive so that we can assist our youth, because they are our future. They need proper tools to be able to deal with what we're going through.

Again, I don't think the education or the systems are out there to be able to support our youth at this time, and we need a lot of work to be done in that area.

[Adam van Koeverden, Liberal, Milton, ON]

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

Mr. Viersen, I have you on my schedule. I'm not sure if there was a change.

Mr. Viersen, are you there, for five minutes?

Mr. Dalton, would you like to step in for Mr. Viersen?

Go ahead.

[Marc Dalton, Conservative, Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC]

I have a question regarding accessibility to PPE and masks. I know there were some comments on that a little earlier.

These are getting to hospitals and other locations, but as we open up our country from COVID, economically and in a variety of ways, what are the needs? Are there significant gaps? One of you mentioned Métis women who are making masks and all that.

Can you elaborate as far as how prepared we are? Are we ready to go forward in these practical ways? What can the government do on this?

I'll open it to anyone who would like to address this. Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

Ms. Whitman, I see you have your hand up.

Go ahead, please.

[Lorraine Whitman]

We have put in dollars from our own funds to be able to do masks, but those are the medical masks. We need to be able to give our women, our elders, that peace that at least they are being comforted by the mask.

As well, we have single moms who may have three or four children. In order for them to go out, they need a mask, because they are afraid of bringing the virus home to their children. It's not economical to take the children with them because they can't go in shopping as well, so there is this seriousness.

I don't think we are equipped if we have a second wave. This virus has been what was expected, and there should be dollars available for the women at home, the moms and the elders and the vulnerable, as well as the ones with addictions. We need to be able to take care of all of our people, and I don't think we're equipped at this time.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

Ms. DeLaronde, you had your hand up.

[Sandra DeLaronde]

I want to note that there is no support for indigenous women in any urban area, and probably not in remote areas, but Hilda can speak to that.

There is no PPE and there is no distribution process. If we are talking about reopening, then we know indigenous women and their families will maintain that vulnerability and will be at the highest risk for contracting the virus.

We are not prepared. Indigenous women need to be protected, and they need those resources in order to provide that protection.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

You have another minute or so left.

[Marc Dalton, Conservative, Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC]

We've talked a bit about the urban side. What about in the rural communities, maybe up north? Do you have any comments about that?

With regard to support, would you say it's the same story on the rural side and northern communities as it is on the urban, as far as the needs, or is it even more pronounced?

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

Ms. Anderson-Pyrz, go ahead.

[Hilda Anderson-Pyrz]

I would say it is even more pronounced. When we look at urban areas, there is access to different stores that on occasion will have PPE equipment, but when we look at remote isolated locations, it's difficult to adequately resource even essential services.

When we look at providing community members with masks and PPE equipment, if borders and stuff are starting to open up, there is a big risk there. We really need to lobby the federal government to ensure that PPE equipment is made available and is readily accessible to all indigenous people, regardless of where they live, because it will protect their lives.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

Thank you. That brings us to time on that.

Ms. Damoff, please go ahead for five minutes.

[Pam Damoff, Liberal, Oakville North—Burlington, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I want to start by acknowledging that I am on the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation.

I want to thank all of you ladies for joining us today. I wish we had a lot more time, and I wish I had more time.

To the ladies from Manitoba, Minister Vandal's office has reached out to you. Please watch for that. He'd very much like to speak to you both with regard to your concerns. Ms. Gazan brought them up yesterday in the House.

I also want to clarify that PPE off reserve is distributed by the provincial government. I know that's frustrating. We try to support them by accessing the material for them to distribute, but the actual distribution in urban settings and off reserve is provincial.

What I want to talk about ties into that, with the different jurisdictions. We've provided $55 billion over 10 years for a national housing strategy to try to end homelessness. That flows through the province and then to the municipality. We know there's a desire to end homelessness in local areas. I was speaking to Jesse Thistle on the weekend, and he said people want to end homelessness but they don't want to end indigenous homelessness. I would argue that when you talk about indigenous women who are homeless, it's even worse.

We've done an okay job of providing funding to violence against women shelters, but not shelters that cater to homeless indigenous women or women who may have an addiction or other things that mean they cannot access them.

I would love to hear from all of you on how we could better support and get more acceptance of the need to support indigenous women who are homeless, because they end up murdered, missing or in prison.

[Hilda Anderson-Pyrz]

We immediately need to look at implementing the call for justice 4.5, the guaranteed annual livable income. We also need to look at colonization and its impact.

Many of those women are homeless as a result of the impact of colonization. We need to start supporting families from a very young age, and providing all the resources that are needed before women and girls end up in vulnerable situations and are homeless. If we can do that as a country, we will be doing something very powerful. We can't look at why they are on the streets now and why they are homeless. They're very vulnerable there and susceptible to all forms of violence.

We need to look at how we can do better as a country and not try to address something after it becomes a really high-risk situation for indigenous women and girls. We need to start at a very young age and provide adequate resources. It breaks my heart that we're always looking at trying to save our women and girls. Why can we not give them an environment they can thrive in and not have to worry about where their next meal is coming from and where they're going to sleep? We need to do better as a country.

[Pam Damoff, Liberal, Oakville North—Burlington, ON]

There are two parts to the problem. One is preventing women from getting there in the first place but if they don't have access to culturally appropriate places to go to heal, it's very difficult for them to get out of that cycle of poverty and homelessness.

[Hilda Anderson-Pyrz]

Many times, as indigenous women who are leaders in our communities, when we want to develop our own programs, because we know in our hearts many of us have had similar experiences to our sisters who are homeless and have found ways to heal, when we try to share those ideas and try to access long-term sustainable funding, we're continuously denied to help our sisters who are struggling and to provide culturally based programs that are indigenous-led. It's time the government really hears our voices, takes what we're saying and puts it into action.

[Pam Damoff, Liberal, Oakville North—Burlington, ON]

I only have 30 seconds left, if someone wants to jump in.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

Ms. Omeniho, you had your hand up.

[Melanie Omeniho]

One of the issues I'd like to raise at this point is that we find many of the women who struggle with the issue of homelessness generally also end up involved in the child welfare system, because they cannot afford to maintain homes for their kids. Living in urban environments, where they very often run to from rural communities, they can't afford the rents and things that are available. There is not enough housing support for indigenous women within many areas and centres.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

Thank you very much. We're at five minutes there.

We'll go to a round of two and a half minutes now, with Ms. Bérubé.

[Sylvie Bérubé, Bloc, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I have a question for you, Ms. Omeniho. What should the federal government do to ensure the safety of women, girls, LGBTQ2 people and indigenous families during the pandemic?

[Melanie Omeniho]

I think they have to work with the organizations at the grassroots level, and I think they need to fund them. There have been a lot of resources given to other counterparts who are doing many things. We hear about that all the time, whether it's business loans, resources from various other institutions or wage subsidies, but there has been no work done towards ensuring that the people in service delivery processes can continue to deliver services to our communities. They're not being funded and supported.

I really support the fact that it has to happen. Money needs to go to these organizations that are at the grassroots level so that they are able to deliver services to the people who are there.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

We have about a minute, Ms. DeLaronde, if you'd like to carry on.

[Sylvie Bérubé, Bloc, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC]

In your opinion, are the current financial resources or the resources announced by the federal government enough to meet the need for shelter spaces for women, girls, LGBTQ2 people, first nations, Inuit and Métis people?