Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee on April 5th, 2022

[Michael McLeod, Liberal, Northwest Territories, NT]

Mr. Chair, it appears that one of the presenters cannot not hear the translation.

[The Clerk]

Professor Metallic, would you select English?

[Prof. Naiomi Metallic]

I'm so sorry to interrupt. I'm not able to access the translation on my end. I don't know—

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

[Member spoke in Inuktitut, interpreted as follows:]

I will try to speak in English, so you can understand me.

[Prof. Naiomi Metallic]

I understand now. Thank you.

I'm very sorry.

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

Should I start from the beginning?

[The Chair, Liberal, Marc Garneau]

Yes. Go ahead, please.

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

[Member spoke in Inuktitut, interpreted as follows:]

First of all, I want to welcome both of you for your presentations. It's been very interesting.

Naiomi, it's good to see you again, as we know each other.

I will address my question to both of you, and you can reply separately.

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act received royal assent in June 2021. The law requires the Government of Canada to “take all measures necessary to ensure that the laws of Canada are consistent with the Declaration.” In consultation and co-operation with indigenous peoples, the law requires that the Minister of Justice “prepare and implement an action plan to achieve the objectives of the Declaration.”

How can this law affect housing programs, strategies and accords for indigenous peoples in Canada?

[Sarah Silva]

I can speak to that. Thank you.

For me, the declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples is really all about self-determination: the right to be able to live within our communities and practise our way of life, but also to administer the different programs and policies. For housing, I believe that would mean for us to be fully involved in the creation of policy and programs in our communities and for us to be able to manage those freely within our communities as well.

I also believe that housing should be a priority, because without housing within our community, we can't access our culture, we can't access our families and we can't access our schools that are going to help us really be successful and have longevity. I really believe that housing needs to be a priority within our communities and, yes, I hope it's not just that we're brought to the table and it's “you've signed or checked the box that the indigenous person was there and they participated”. It has to be real and true participation for it to really work, and it has to be based on strong relationships and on acknowledging what's happened in the past as well.

[The Chair, Liberal, Marc Garneau]

Professor Metallic, did you want to comment on that?

[Prof. Naiomi Metallic]

Yes, please.

I agree with everything that Ms. Silva has said.

I would also emphasize that the UN declaration act recognizes that the UN declaration is an instrument that recognizes fundamental human rights, so our section 35 rights are incorporated in that, but it's broader than that and expands to a whole panoply of rights, actually, that have been recognized by indigenous peoples throughout the world as being key.

I certainly agree with self-determination.

I would also highlight article 21, which states that “indigenous people have the right...to improvement of their economic and social conditions, including...in the areas of education, employment” and “housing”. That is underlined, as well as “sanitation” and “social security”.

Most importantly, in point number two, article 21 says, “States shall take effective measures and, where appropriate, special measures to ensure continuing improvement of their economic and social conditions.”

I think this is a really important provision in the declaration and underscores that it's not just “effective measures”. In fact, “special measures” may have to be taken in order to redress social situations and lack of housing.

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

[Member spoke in Inuktitut, interpreted as follows:]

Thank you, Naiomi.

I'll ask you again. In 2006 there was a court case. If you were an MP and we were going to apply the housing act properly, how would you, as an MP, enforce it or apply it?

[Prof. Naiomi Metallic]

I'm not 100% sure I get the question. I think certainly there are roles that members of Parliament can push for in terms of the government.

I'm a big proponent of what I call “legislative reconciliation”, in that there are steps that governments can take in order to clarify the law. The problem with a lot of the court decisions is that we have these rights, but governments have not picked them up and helped the communities in terms of actualizing and implementing them. Yes, you have a court decision, but what does that mean for the day-to-day? You might need funding and resources in order to actually make it into something.

That's what I'm saying about the decision I discussed with you today. We need to pick it up and actually do something with it rather than just say, “Oh, there's a court decision.” It takes work to actually implement and fill in the blanks. There are lots of details that need to be worked out. I think there's the legislative role and I think there's encouraging the executive to take certain actions as well.

[The Chair, Liberal, Marc Garneau]

Thank you, Ms. Idlout.

That concludes our question period.

Professor Metallic and Ms. Silva, I'd like to thank you for your testimony today and for answering our questions. You've taken us into an area that we need to talk about as part of this larger study. We very much appreciate your time today. Thank you for being with us.

[Sarah Silva]

Huy chexw. Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Marc Garneau]

You're most welcome.

With that, colleagues, we'll suspend and then rejoin on the in camera link for further business.

Thank you.

[Proceedings continue in camera]