Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee on Oct. 24th, 2022

[The Chair, Liberal, Marc Garneau]

Thank you, Ms. Idlout.

Colleagues, we can go for a quick second round. Again we'll start with the Conservatives. I have Mr. Zimmer there, but whoever it is, it's for three minutes.

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies, BC]

Thank you again, Mr. Chair.

My last question is to Garry Bailey once again, president of the Northwest Territory Métis Nation.

The same Cabin Radio article from 2021 refers to the reconciliation process, but it says action needs to happen much faster. You're quoted as saying, “Things have been going very slowly. I think they’ve got to quit talking and start walking the walk.”

Please explain.

[Garry Bailey]

Thank you. I've been involved in negotiations. I'm 49 years old now, and I've been doing this since 1997. I've been at the table negotiating the land claim. It hasn't made any movement. Government does have a lot of good talk. Right now they're looking even at reconciliation. Reconciliation is a big part of settling land claims as well, recognizing the past that's happened to the aboriginal people.

There has been no movement at all on our negotiations. They have slowed down the processes by having sessions every two months and so on. They haven't dealt with the major issues.

We have four issues. We do a lot of drafting. Sometimes it's repetitive, dotting the i's and crossing the t's, but for anything that could be meaningful and have movement on our process, I've never, ever, been given any kind of direction. The negotiators have no real authority to move a process forward. They're just pretty well the people who come and hear you out, and then they go back and talk to others, and there's no decision-making there at all.

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies, BC]

Thanks. I'm sorry to cut you off, Garry. I just have to pass it along. My colleague Eric Melillo has another question. Thank you.

[Eric Melillo, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

Thank you. That's great teamwork here, Mr. Zimmer.

I'm going to ask another question to you, Mr. Bailey. I hope to get everyone's comments on this, but I just don't think we have the time. I asked the same question to Ms. Stanovich in my last round and, keeping in the theme of what Mr. Zimmer just asked about making sure that we're taking action, do you have any more specific suggestions in terms of measurable outcomes that could be included in this bill that you might not have had the chance to share yet?

[Garry Bailey]

No. As you said, they really need to follow up with the self-determination and treating everybody equally. I think that's very important in order to settle the land claims. They have to give us the rights to our lands in order for us to make any kind of movement forward on economics and so on. In order to do that, they have to settle the land claims, and then we'll have our freedom in prior and informed consent. We'd be able to move forward with our initiatives of getting health care and education.

All that is stemmed in land claims. It's to be treating us equitably and giving those negotiators a real mandate that gives them the authority to negotiate, rather than just coming with a take-it-or-leave-it method.

[The Chair, Liberal, Marc Garneau]

Thank you, Mr. Melillo.

We'll have to go to Mr. McLeod now for three minutes.

[Michael McLeod, Liberal, Northwest Territories, NT]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to all the presenters today.

My question is for Garry Bailey from NWT Métis.

The process of reconciliation is right across our country, and the national council for reconciliation is the oversight body that will monitor what is going on. There seem to be challenges historically, and even to this day, of who represents whom.

You were pretty clear in your comments that you're not represented by any of the national indigenous organizations. Does that mean that there is no body out there that represents you at the national level? Do you participate in some of the other organizations, such as the self-governing indigenous governments, SGIGs or Land Claims Agreements Coalition?

[Garry Bailey]

We are not part of anything. I'd say pretty freely that we aren't part of the Land Claims Agreements Coalition either, because we don't have a settled claim. We're not part of the Métis National Council. We don't qualify to be part of them, nor did we ever really want to be part of that, because we are stand-alone and we are unique and on our own here in the Northwest Territories as Métis, so we represent ourselves.

We are part of the devolution agreement, as I mentioned, with GNWT. We have always acted as our own government. That's why it's very important for us to get our own seat. I believe we have our own issues here north of 60 that we need to bring forward when it comes to dealing with reconciliation. I know that we have our own vision, and without talking to anybody nationally about these things, I think this is the place that we need to be in order to be able to bring those issues forward, and who knows? It might benefit nationally, because I'm sure other people would be able to relate to the issues we have.

Thank you.

[Michael McLeod, Liberal, Northwest Territories, NT]

My next question is around.... This board is going to provide oversight over many different things: truth and reconciliation recommendations, UNDRIP, land claims, everything that falls under the title “reconciliation”.

How important do you think it is that there are survivors of the residential school system included as part of the board? We have a high number of people in the Northwest Territories who attended residential schools, so I want to hear your opinion.

[The Chair, Liberal, Marc Garneau]

We'll need a pretty quick answer, Mr. Bailey.

[Garry Bailey]

I would definitely not oppose that when we're talking about reconciliation. They were the ones who were the true founders of the land, and they actually had a lot of things happen to them in the past, so I would definitely support it. It's very important to have them there when they have that knowledge.

We hear from them, but it's always best to get them there. We've lost a lot of them already. To get them in there so that the proper history is documented, I think, is very important.

[The Chair, Liberal, Marc Garneau]

Thank you, Mr. McLeod.

We'll go to Madame Gill for 90 seconds.

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

My question is for all the witnesses, particularly Ms. Stanovich, Mr. Bailey and Ms. Prosper.

I know it's impossible to be completely satisfied, but do you think it's possible to have representation that would satisfy all first nations stakeholders?

[The Chair, Liberal, Marc Garneau]

Each of the witnesses, you have about 20 seconds for your answer.

[Garry Bailey]

I didn't quite understand the question.

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Is it because of the interpretation that Mr. Bailey didn't understand?

[The Chair, Liberal, Marc Garneau]

It's possible, but I'm not sure that's the case.

Please repeat your question.

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

I want to know if, for all the witnesses, it's possible for all first nations, Métis and Inuit interests to be represented on the council.

[The Chair, Liberal, Marc Garneau]

Interpreting the question a little bit for our witnesses, do any of you think that it is possible to have, within this proposed national council, proper representation that covers all indigenous interests?

It's really time to say yes or no. There's not much more time, I'm afraid.

We'll start with Ms. Stanovich.

[Brandy Stanovich]

Yes, it is absolutely possible.

[The Chair, Liberal, Marc Garneau]

Thank you.

We'll go to Ms. Prosper.

[Jacqueline Prosper]

I would agree. Yes, it is possible.

[The Chair, Liberal, Marc Garneau]

Okay. Very good.

We'll go to Mr. Bailey.

[Garry Bailey]

Yes, it is possible.