Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee on June 21st, 2022

[The Chair, Liberal, Marc Garneau]

Thank you.

Ms. Idlout, you have two and a half minutes.

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

[Member spoke in Inuktitut, interpreted as follows:]

Thank you.

I will ask Marcia first, and then I will ask Vice-Chief Joseph Tsannie.

Do you agree that as a part of all emergency preparedness planning, a portion of that needs to include help to enable indigenous people to help each other, rather than the status quo of relying mainly on academically graduated mental health professionals?

Marcia and then the vice-chief.

[Marcia Mirasty]

I agree with you. I believe that community-based resources are the most effective, because they know their people and they know the culture, the traditions and the language. They are connected. The issue that is highlighted at times is confidentiality and trust within our own people because of past grievances. It's about the training programs that can be provided to our people and assurances that mental health and emergency services will be provided in a professional and confidential manner. If there is a need for confidentiality, our people are the best to do it, in the communities, with their culture, with their language and with their traditions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Marc Garneau]

Vice-Chief.

[Vice Chief Joseph Tsannie]

Can you repeat the question?

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

I'll say it in English, just for time's sake.

Do you agree that as a part of all emergency preparedness planning, a portion of that needs to include help to enable indigenous people to help each other, rather than the status quo of relying mainly on academically graduated mental health professionals?

[Vice Chief Joseph Tsannie]

Again, I think it's about coming together and making those decisions together. It doesn't matter where you come from or what your background is; it's about coming together—that willingness. That's what reconciliation is about for me, being able to work together collectively. It's not just first nations' problems, and it's not just the federal government's. It's together. This is our country. We have to come together and make a collective decision together for the best of everybody. Then we can all be accountable.

With our neighbours down south, if we can work together in terms of finding the solution for our communities, because we're all interrelated.... For gang activity, drug activities in our communities, we all share those same issues. If we can come together and come up with solutions, we do that to a certain point, but I think we need to do it collectively. This is not just a one-nation problem. Collectively, as Canadians, we all have to be accountable. We all have to be willing partners. It's the same as being married to your spouse. I think we have to work together.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Marc Garneau]

Thank you, Vice-Chief.

Mr. Vidal, you have five minutes.

[Gary Vidal, Conservative, Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Ms. Mirasty, I'm going to ask you to make a clear statement on this because I have limited time. I'm going to try to get you to do this in a couple of minutes or less.

When you were talking about your SWOT analysis, one of the weaknesses you talked about was lockdowns. Under the threats you talked about working from home.

I want you to make a statement, so we get it on the record and so we know in the future, if we were ever to face something similar to what we did with the COVID-19 pandemic, what your recommendation would be for the communities that you serve, to respond to things like lockdowns and working from home.

[Marcia Mirasty]

Number one, we need to have the infrastructure in place. We need to have cell towers and connectivity so that we can stay connected to our contacts in the communities and provide the opportunity for home-schooling, educational opportunities and mental health supports. We also need to pivot and be flexible and find ways to meet the mandates of our programs and services in a unique setting that is highly reliant on virtual technologies. Basically, it's serving our people and meeting their needs when there are vast distances.

For the Meadow Lake Tribal Council, our furthest first nation is three and a half hours away. If there are lockdowns and we're not able to travel, we have to be able to guide and direct our first nations and work with them to get their advice and their direction virtually. I would say that the connectivity, the high-speed Internet and the cell towers are key in working from home and meeting the needs of our community members.

[Gary Vidal, Conservative, Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK]

Thank you for that answer.

I was going to ask Vice-Chief Tsannie this question, but I think, Vice-Chief, you've done a great job of advocating for the Canadian Rangers in northern Saskatchewan, so I'll change this up a bit.

Dr. Coates, you're obviously a very knowledgeable gentleman. Would you speak to the suggestion that Vice-Chief Tsannie has made about a Canadian Rangers base in northern Saskatchewan? Do you believe that would be beneficial for many of the reasons the vice-chief has already so admirably advocated in his presentation today?

[Dr. Ken Coates]

The vice-chief has spoken about two things. He has spoken about the rangers and the role they could play in the defence of the north and the first alerts, but he's also talked about search and rescue capabilities based in northern Saskatchewan, with the ability to reach way up into the Arctic. I concur with both of those things.

This is a classic example of where we have to look at the long-term and multiple effects of something. Taking on something like that could be enriching for the communities and bring spirit, pride and enthusiasm to the young people. I've been with the folks in La Ronge and have watched what the young people do there. They are so excited about the activities. They have a similar arrangement in the Yukon, where there are ranger groups up there. I'm sure the minister has worked with them. There's passion and energy. This actually brings life to those young people.

Don't just do it because of search and rescue or because of military preparedness. Do it because of all the other things that come along with a comprehensive approach.

[Gary Vidal, Conservative, Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK]

Thank you for that.

I have a bit of time left, so, Vice-Chief, you are going to get the last word on this.

Vice-Chief, get on the record again your advocacy for a Canadian Rangers base in northern Saskatchewan.

Talk until the chair cuts you off, please.

[Voices]

Oh, oh!

[Vice Chief Joseph Tsannie]

We have those capabilities already. We're doing some of the work already in terms of search and rescue. We find the people who can't be found. I've been to Ottawa with the military and checked out this high-definition camera that can see 40 kilometres away—infrared, through smoke. We want those capabilities. It takes two weeks to train a student to operate that camera. We have the biggest resources in our young people. Who best can survive in the northern regions than our people? We can provide that service.

As you said, I'm not looking for combat people. I'm looking for support. We can deliver fuel into the Arctic. We can provide ground support. We can provide the food, if needed, in certain situations. We have the people. We have the capabilities. We can provide the support that's going to be needed in case of emergency.

We're a willing partner. We have the airlines. We have the young people. We have the technology. We have the companies to build our capacity. We need the support and we need to strategize, as we've said, and come together.

I think at the end of the day, the feds, the provinces and the first nations can come together in the Arctic to strategize and come up with the best solution for our northern communities. I want to go to the Arctic. I love the north so much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Marc Garneau]

Thank you, Vice-Chief.

We're going to conclude with five minutes from Mr. Fisher.

[Darren Fisher, Liberal, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. What a fascinating committee to be subbed in on today.

To all of our witnesses, thank you for your expert testimony and all of your comments. Your absolute love of the north is very evident when we hear you speak.

Minister Mostyn, I think most of us can agree that climate change impacts every single one of us, but the north is disproportionately impacted. You see the fires and you see the floods. You spoke about the partnerships—municipal, provincial, first nations and the federal government—and I salute you for those partnerships. I recognize that all orders of government have had to step up to the plate to invest in climate change mitigation and better infrastructure.

Minister, what action is your provincial government taking, and what investments are you making in order to mitigate the impacts of climate change? I'm curious to know whether there's anything you want to elaborate on and, as Mr. Vidal said, get on the record.

[Richard Mostyn]

That's an important question.

We are spending an enormous amount of money, hundreds of millions of dollars over the next 10 years, on climate change. We have a plan called Our Clean Future. I believe it's a nation-leading plan. I know there are probably others out there, but I'm really proud of what we've done here in the territory with so few resources. It is measurable, and we report every year on what we're doing. It has hundreds of recommendations and timelines for implementation.

We've declared a climate emergency up here, and when you do that, you're actually declaring that all other things, in the face of this emergency that we're facing, are secondary. We have to look through that lens to make sure we're dealing with the emergency we have.

We're looking at putting in a program that will help Yukoners cut their heating bills, because heating provides an awful lot of greenhouse gases. The territory produces a lot of greenhouse gases, so we're looking at ways to have residents make their homes more energy-efficient, cutting the cost of heating in these days of skyrocketing diesel and gas prices.

We're looking at expanding our power grid and putting in green energy. I mentioned Old Crow. We're putting in battery storage in Whitehorse, again with the help of the federal government. We have first nations across the territory putting in solar and wind power stations. We are working very closely with our first nations to increase their local emergency management capability and climate resiliency, to support them in developing robust emergency plans.

It's been inspiring to see the resilience and leadership shown by Yukon first nations, and local governments throughout the territory, through the unprecedented number of emergencies we've had in the last several years.

As I said, every dollar we spend in preventing and building better infrastructure, more efficient homes, more efficient recreation facilities and more efficient roads is going to pay huge dividends on the back end, because it's enormously expensive to replace the roads that are getting washed out and to replace the schools in a community of 250 people. Building a school in that community is going to be in excess of $40 million. How do you do that? We have to make sure we're building these facilities in ways that survive the climate crisis we're in.

I'll leave it there, as there's so much to do.

[Darren Fisher, Liberal, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

Thank you, Minister.

Do you generally feel that you're well-supported by the federal government as one of your key partners?

[Richard Mostyn]

The support the territorial government has received from our federal partners has been absolutely extraordinary. The infrastructure programs that the federal government has implemented in the north, these nation-building infrastructure programs, have been absolutely essential to the territory.

We pulled on the federal government. We spent every cent the federal government has sent our way. There's $1 billion in other programs that haven't been funded yet. The need is absolutely great, but the federal government has been extraordinary in building our roads and bridges, and preparing us for the changing climate we have. So much more is needed, unfortunately.

[Darren Fisher, Liberal, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

Mr. Chair, I see I have 19 seconds left. I'll cede that time. It's hard to get a question and answer.

Minister Mostyn, thank you so very much for all the work you do, and, again, my hat's off to all of the witnesses today for your expert testimony. I certainly appreciate it.

[The Chair, Liberal, Marc Garneau]

Thank you very much, and let me echo that as well. This is our last meeting before we break until the fall and continue with this study, which is by no means complete. It has been a real pleasure to have four really great witnesses today, with each of you having your own area of expertise and experience.

On this National Indigenous Peoples Day, it couldn't be a better way for us to finish off our work until we meet again in the fall.

Thank you very much for your patience in waiting for us, and for your testimony, your opening remarks and your very candid answers to all of our questions.

The meeting is adjourned.