Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee on May 29th, 2024

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Do you have a time frame in mind for the Nutrition North Canada follow‑up?

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB]

First, we're conducting an assessment of Nutrition North Canada. I don't know how long this assessment will take. I could ask the department officials to provide more information on this topic.

[Valerie Gideon]

By summer 2025, we should have the report.

I should also point out that the assessment involves an advisory committee made up of a number of indigenous partners, who are truly stakeholders in the program.

That's basically our time frame for the assessment.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

That's good. I encourage you to continue in that direction.

Minister, in this committee and increasingly in the media, we've heard time and again about how permafrost affects infrastructure in the north. This type of issue also arises in Nunavik, making it harder and harder to supply food and drinking water.

Can you explain what your department has done to help these communities over the past two months, particularly in Nunavik? Have any governments allocated money to adapting infrastructure to permafrost conditions?

Examples include airport runways, drinking water intakes, buildings and road repairs. Another issue concerns ice roads, which are no longer passable as a result of melting permafrost and different winters.

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB]

I can say that we're aware of the melting permafrost and its impact on all kinds of infrastructure, such as roads and buildings. These are the real effects of climate change happening in the north. The north is warming four times faster than the south.

Our department has five programs that address climate change. These programs were developed in partnership with indigenous peoples. They focus on clean energy, climate change adaptation and global engagement. I'm not sure that we have a program that focuses specifically on permafrost. However, I know that we always work closely with the Minister of the Environment and Climate Change and the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources and that climate change is a priority. It's a reality. This phenomenon isn't just happening in Nunavik, but throughout the north. Even in northern Manitoba, the permafrost is melting.

In any case, we're involved in this matter and we'll work in partnership with other departments and governments.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

I think that we should note that a number of residents are wondering about the effectiveness of water distribution and waste‑water collection systems that rely on the use of tanker trucks. The issue is becoming increasingly serious. I encourage you to create a program to help in this area.

I would like to address one final point.

In response to an earlier question, you said that you were working with Minister Wilkinson on strategic critical minerals. To that end, your government has made many announcements about major investments, to the tune of billions of dollars. These include investments with Stellantis, Volkswagen and, recently, Honda.

The issue is that Canada will be purchasing strategic critical minerals by outbidding China, for example, instead of building its expertise and supply chain from the mine and in conjunction with indigenous peoples.

What leadership role can you play to help implement mining and processing projects close to the mine, for the benefit of indigenous and northern people?

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB]

This question would require a lengthy discussion, but I think that I have only a few seconds left to answer it.

We work closely together. We have the Canadian critical minerals strategy for the north. We believe that this initiative holds great potential. However, we need to involve local people in this project. It isn't just a matter of consulting them, but also of getting them genuinely involved in the project.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Patrick Weiler]

Thank you, Mr. Lemire.

From here, we'll go to our last round of questions with Ms. Idlout for six minutes.

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

Thank you, Chair.

I'll be asking a series of questions regarding nutrition north. However, first, I wanted to ask you, Minister Vandal, when did you become the Minister of Northern Affairs?

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB]

It was in 2019.

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

When was the nutrition north program started?

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB]

In 2011.

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

Thank you.

Since I was elected in 2021, a good portion of my questions to you have been on nutrition north. Because of your lack of responses, I keep having to ask more questions. You're not giving sufficient information to educate us about how this program actually alleviates poverty.

One of the things I had to do, as you'll recall, is have the CEO of the The North West Company, Dan McConnell, appear before this committee. He initially refused to tell us what his salary was. It was probably because he wanted to hide his corporate greed. However, we were told in that same sitting of this committee that his salary was, indeed, $3.91 million. He later provided this committee with an updated salary—a much lower one, but still unbelievable—which was given to us in correspondence. His salary is still up almost $800,000 a year, and he received over a million dollars in bonuses in one year.

I'm giving you the specific data because you are quick to point out that the nutrition north program was provided $145 million last year, or something like that. The Northwest Company posted a gross profit of $205 million. In all these times I've been asking for clarification about what we're going to do to alleviate poverty, the most recent response from you was, first of all, you'll do an internal review and, maybe, an external review.

Now you're confirming that you'll do an external review, so I wanted to ask about that. You say you want to do it after the internal review. Has this process for determining the audit of the external review started, and when does your department anticipate that the external audit will commence?

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB]

Thank you for that question, MP Idlout.

First of all, I need to say that nutrition north is one program of one department of one level of government. If your expectation is that poverty will be alleviated through one program, I'd say that's a pretty high expectation. Poverty needs to be addressed from all—

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

I'm so sorry, but I have to interrupt your rude response.

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB]

Is that rude?

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

There are people who are starving in my communities, and we have The North West Company's CEO—

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB]

I'm giving you a real answer.

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

—profiting from a $3.9-million salary—

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB]

I'd like to continue talking, if I can.

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

I'm not asking about nutrition north being the sole solution to alleviate poverty—

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB]

That's exactly what you said.

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

—and that's what you're trying to say.

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB]

I wrote down what you said during your question.