Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee on Nov. 3rd, 2020

[Regional Chief Marlene Poitras]

Thank you for the question.

In many first nations, and all of Alberta, the businesses, which are the backbone of most communities, have lost significant resources due to the shutdown. A lot of them are struggling to maintain operations. It's just an impact with all the communities. They want to know, with the second round, what economic stimulus supports are coming, especially for their own businesses.

As the pandemic rages on, nations are using their own-source revenue, which, as I said, is running out. Help is needed now, immediately. There isn't time or capacity to apply for additional rounds of funding. People are getting ill, and more are dying every day. Without immediate action and immediate results, the consequences will be even more dire. The spread of the virus will be out of control. The businesses do provide a lot of the resources to their communities as well. With the impact of the first wave, they are struggling right now.

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

Mr. Chartrand, I'm just wondering if you have any stories of Métis companies that are particularly struggling at this time. At the beginning of COVID, I worked with a number of indigenous-led organizations that were looking to produce PPE and seemed to be unable to get government contracts for that. I know that in many, many first nations, people are employed in hospitality, an industry that's been devastated. I'm just wondering what your thoughts are and whether you have a particular story for that.

[David Chartrand]

First, let me go back to your first question about northern Alberta. The Métis communities in northern Alberta are feeling really hard-hit on the pipeline closure and the length of time getting Trans Mountain back into perspective. There's big support, of course, for that economic venture, which had our Métis communities working hand in hand and creating long-term relationships and partnerships with the oil industry. They're clearly being hit and they're feeling it now.

When you have matters like that—no disrespect at all to Alberta—clearly when you have that big elephant that gives you the key fundamental strength economically, and that elephant has gone out of the room, there's really sometimes no industry coming right behind it to replace it, so they're feeling a hit right now. We hope that the pipelines will get back into perspective and that oil will raise its prices because, truly, they're feeling the hit hard. They felt it really hard during the first phase, trying to get some support for hampers and so forth. In fact, the federation gave them $100,000 from my province to assist them in northern Alberta to get them to ensure that the elders stayed in their houses and that they continue to find some ways of support. They lost their economic engine. It's hurting.

As for Métis businesses, I'll use my province as an example. We have over 500 businesses registered in our government, and we have a really robust plan. In the first phase, we gave all types of support. Federal Canada has a program of $40,000, which we call the Métis CEBA, and I want to commend the federal government for that one, because it really is a $40,000 loan for businesses and a $10,000 forgivable grant. We have many small, medium and some large Métis businesses in our province.

We just announced yesterday $5.5 million for the federation—$3.5 million of that is coming from Canada, and $2 million is coming from us—to ensure that during the red zone.... As you know, in Manitoba we're in a worst-case scenario right now, worse than anybody else in this country, and tracking worse than many places in the United States, like El Paso or Texas. When you look at the different aspects of it, you see that we're really hurting bad, and now many businesses are nearly in complete shutdown here. We're fearful that they're not going to make it and they'll come out of this bankrupt or finished.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

We're right at time.

[David Chartrand]

Okay, thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

All right.

We have two and a half minutes now with Madame Bérubé for the Bloc.

Please go ahead.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

My question is for you, Mr. Obed. On your website last August, you posted a press release acknowledging the federal government's additional $305 million in funding for the communities in response to COVID-19. Now that we're in the second wave, which is hitting hard, do you think that this funding has been or is sufficient?

[Natan Obed]

The funding has allowed Inuit Nunangat communities to respond to COVID-19 considerations, but in the coming months we are going to need different types of funding. As was discussed earlier, the economic fallout is severe within Inuit Nunangat. If you think about how many Inuit are artists who either sell art or perform, all of those scenarios and all of those opportunities have largely been lost. Also lost are any tourism opportunities, as those seasons in our communities have come and gone. We had no season. For our economy, it's definitely going to have some ripple effects over the winter.

Also, we're going into a very different scenario from when we started the first wave. In the first wave across Inuit Nunangat, we were able to help people get out on the land to go outside of the confined spaces of overcrowded housing communities, so many Inuit did that. During the coming three to four months, it will be very, very different, and I think we'll need much more support and capacity for health services, for contact tracing, for the public health structures and then also for economic and transportation stimulus.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

You have just half a minute.

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

Do you have any recommendations for this study?

[Natan Obed]

As I said in my opening remarks, applying an Inuit Nunangat policy lens to any of the COVID-19 relief efforts goes a tremendously long way in ensuring that Inuit can benefit from anything the federal government provides in support. A lot of our time over the summer was spent chasing terms and conditions for certain announcements that weren't made with first nations, Inuit and Métis specifically, decided-upon structures for the interventions.

All interventions that come from the federal government should have very specific terminology around first nations, Inuit and Métis, and then also, for Inuit, applying an Inuit Nunangat policy lens.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

Thank you.

Ms. Blaney, you have two and a half minutes. Please go ahead.

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

Thank you.

Mr. Obed, I will come back to you. In your presentation, you talked about the need for more data and having more ownership of that information. Could you talk a little bit about what that would look like and what benefit that would bring to the community? I think for indigenous communities across Canada that is a continued concern.

[Natan Obed]

The way in which we make the best possible decisions around a COVID response is with data. Outside of Inuit Nunangat, we do not have any clear understanding of how many Inuit have contracted COVID-19 or the types of services they have received, and very little else about their health condition. We have sizable populations now in cities like Edmonton, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Montreal and St. John's, Newfoundland. We need to know better how those populations are faring in order to provide services.

Provinces and territories should collect and then report on Inuit-specific data so as to allow Inuit to understand how to serve our populations better and allow all public governments to serve Inuit populations better. This is something that can happen right now. On the forms that are filled out in relation to COVID-19 reporting, you have ethnic identifiers within them. It's imperative that all jurisdictions step up and help indigenous peoples understand how to serve our population better.

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

Thank you.

Another thing you talked about was housing. I know that has been a spectacular disaster for a long time in indigenous communities across Canada. Now there's the pandemic on top of it and isolation, which we've heard from many communities. Could you talk about some of the challenges you're facing in your region and in the communities you represent? That would be extremely helpful.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

You have just 30 seconds. I'm sorry.

[Natan Obed]

The major considerations are following public health protocols. All of the messaging has reached our communities around how to prevent the spread of COVID-19, but if you have 12 people living in a three-bedroom home, if you have people sleeping in shifts, and if you have limited access to food and also to hygiene products, then you're putting people in an impossible situation. That is one of the biggest challenges we face in keeping our population safe.

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

Thanks for meeting my time challenge. I want to make sure everyone gets their full opportunity.

The next questioner is Adam van Koeverden.

Please go ahead. You have five minutes.

[Adam van Koeverden, Liberal, Milton, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you so much to the witnesses for joining us today and for providing us with this incredibly valuable insight and perspective.

My question is for all three. I would like to go from Madame Poitras to Mr. Chartrand, and then to President Natan Obed, if that's okay. It's in two parts. I'm sorry, but I'm going to ask for very brief answers.

The first question is around engagement with officials to gather that really valuable insight, perspective and feedback about the individual problems your communities and nations face and have faced. I'm wondering about the degree to which it has been adequate. I'd like to know whether they've been in touch proactively and whether you've had the opportunity to provide that.

The second half of my question stems from something Madame Poitras said around the case that there is room to be better and that the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed other epidemics and inequities across Canada, from opioid addictions to the tuberculosis referred to by Mr. Obed, to inactivity and sedentariness, which I think is a problem in urban and suburban communities as well. Housing, overcrowding and clean drinking water are just a few others.

We have a well-stated ambition of building back better. I would like to know, from a broad perspective, starting with Madame Poitras, what building back better means to you, your communities, your people and your nations.

Thank you.

[Regional Chief Marlene Poitras]

Thank you for your question.

In the first wave, we had a really good response in terms of the engagement with this government, with Minister Miller, but as I said, there's always room for improvement.

In terms of some of the decisions that are being made, like the recent release of funding, the question we get is, how do they arrive at those numbers, taking into consideration that we have over 630 first nations in Canada? As I said, it's imperative that we work together in dealing with this crisis, because in the past it hasn't happened. We need that nation-to-nation engagement.

[Adam van Koeverden, Liberal, Milton, ON]

Thank you, Madame Poitras.

Mr. Chartrand, go ahead, please.

[David Chartrand]

Thank you very much, Adam.

Let me say this. Engagement with officials is sometimes a massive challenge, especially federally. When they talk about FNIHB, again, that department is keeping an old policy that should have been thrown out with the garbage a long time ago, because it has damaging effects on the Métis people in western Canada. That's a big issue.

When it comes to ministers, that's a different story. They're truly in line with discussions. They're willing to pick up the phone and talk to you to see how we can better align our systems. That's a big difference, when you see politicians wanting to do it differently and you see bureaucrats sometimes pulling back because of some policy that hinders them.

On the other side of it, I think what all of us should learn from this is that one virus has affected the world like that—the entire world. It showed how this virus will attack those citizens who are the most endangered. Right away, it was the chronically ill individuals, and those would usually be the poor, the working poor and seniors—in general, all seniors.

When you look at it in that context, our country and our world needed to react with a quick action plan on all of it. It also shows it can affect anybody in the world. The virus has, I hope, given us a wake-up call in this county, a wake-up call in the world. We need to do better. We need to be more effective. We need to now truly reflect that this is an issue, and we need to be ready for it.

We do know that the most vulnerable will be indigenous people because of the high rates of chronic illnesses. As Marlene has said and as Natan has said, this is a long-standing issue of us struggling to find a place in Canada, where health and costs.... Everybody is afraid to deal with the indigenous people because it costs so much money. But it costs so much money because they have ignored it for so damn long and now we're paying the price for it.

Again, for all of us, I think this should be a wake-up call. We need to put our heads together and sit down now and figure out how we move after this. The next one to come could be worse. How do we plan for this? We shouldn't say, “We're over it. Let's just keep on living.” I think that's the worst thing we could ever do to ourselves.

[Adam van Koeverden, Liberal, Milton, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chartrand.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

You have half a minute.

Go ahead.