Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee on May 29th, 2023

[Paula Isaak]

I don't have a comparison to how much to the for-profit, but I can tell the member we've supported over 5,500 harvesters with the harvester support program—

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

That's not what I'm asking. I'm asking what you provided to for-profit corporations.

[Paula Isaak]

I don't have that data available right now.

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

Can that be shared with us at a later date?

My next question is this. When will you change the nutrition north program funding so it's less about giving funds to for-profit corporations in the millions than giving to an actual social program that feeds families that need access to it?

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

I can say that the evaluation of the program is something that goes on regularly. We have an advisory council that gives us advice for nutrition north. It's community based. In the latest new funding that we've invested, there is a research component to it. If there was an organization that wanted to do research for a better model or to improve the program, we would be willing to consider that, using sound research methods.

Nutrition north is but one program. I think we need to keep it in context that one program is not going to solve the food insecurity issues in the north. We work with other departments. We work with other levels of government. We work with ITK to try to make it a better program, which we have, I think, in the last several years, but there's always room for improvement.

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

Thank you.

I've asked you questions about nutrition north in the past, and you have mentioned this advisory committee. Could you commit to sharing the minutes of the advisory committee meetings with this committee?

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

Sure, yes.

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

Thank you so much.

I have questions for Minister Miller.

I've heard from chiefs in northern Ontario that community police officers in their communities are not deemed essential services, and that your government is refusing to negotiate new funding for the services that these officers provide. I know there's a lot of overlap between your department and Minister Mendicino's department on public safety, but can you share with this committee what your department is doing to ensure northern first nations can keep their communities safe?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC]

There are a couple of things. It depends on the program you're referring to. Community safety officers would be under Minister Hajdu's department, and the other would be Minister Mendicino, with the trilateral agreements. I'm sure you're familiar with the budget in 2022, which increased the trilateral funds available for policing services in indigenous communities. Indeed, Minister Mendicino has made commitments to new police services in a number of communities across Canada. It's not enough, and I think that's why the Prime Minister committed to introducing legislation to treat first nations policing as an essential service, because what is more essential than keeping people safe and alive?

We support that. There have been significant budgetary increases. I am not familiar with the particular fact pattern that you're speaking to, but it isn't, as a generality, something that doesn't happen in this country. Those police services at times are struggling and need more support.

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

I know there are different responsibilities in each department, and we know that time is really important. Communities are running out of funding, and quickly more communities are becoming more in danger. I wonder if you can take this issue back to the cabinet table and ask that the government take representatives to be sent with a mandate to negotiate in order to make sure this community program continues.

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC]

Yes, absolutely.

I know I spoke about the departments and the various responsibilities, but I asked the Prime Minister, when I took this role, to put that specifically in my mandate letter, to help coordinate that. It is something that I care about and take to heart, and I will absolutely do so.

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

Okay. Thank you.

How much time do I still have?

[The Chair, Liberal, Jenica Atwin]

You have 20 seconds.

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

Can I save it for my next round?

[The Chair, Liberal, Jenica Atwin]

We do have a condensed second round. I can give you the 20 seconds there.

We'll move on, as I mentioned, to a condensed second round. We'll begin with Mr. Schmale for five minutes.

[Jamie Schmale, Conservative, Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON]

Thank you, Chair, and thank you, Ministers, for being here today.

I'm going to pick up where Mr. Zimmer left off, regarding nutrition north and food security up north.

Mr. Vandal, on page 35 of your departmental plan, there doesn't seem to be a target there on where your department hopes to make headway into this situation. Do you have a timeline on that?

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

The programs aim to provide nutritious food at a more affordable price for people who live in the north. There are five key components. There is, of course, the retail subsidy, which is probably the most well known. There's the harvesters support grant, which has rolled out in the last few years and has been very successful in providing traditional country food to people in the north. We've adopted the new community food programs fund in the last iteration of nutrition north, which looks at school food programs and food sharing initiatives, food sovereignty initiatives and greenhouses. We have nutrition education initiatives to continue to support culturally appropriate and community-based nutrition education activities, and last, of course, is the food security research grant, to try to work with community partners—

[Jamie Schmale, Conservative, Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON]

I appreciate that.

I'm sorry, Minister; my time is really short. I appreciate all that, but I'm really looking for an answer. Why in your departmental plan, on page 35, are there no targets set?

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

I believe that we're always trying to provide the greatest outreach that we can to help as many people as possible. On the target sector, perhaps I'll turn to the—

[Jamie Schmale, Conservative, Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON]

That's okay, Minister. Thank you very much; I appreciate that. I have to go to Minister Miller. Unfortunately, my time is very short.

Minister Miller, you mentioned in your opening words that you're making progress on the murdered and missing indigenous women and girls file. I only had to look at APTN News a few minutes ago to see that pretty much a whole slew of very sad stories are talking about how the situation is getting worse, including a quote here from an FSIN vice-chief, saying that as we approach this fourth anniversary of the release of the report, she, Aly Bear, believes the crisis has only deepened.

What is your department doing? I can bring up more stats here, which I will get to momentarily.

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC]

We're talking about people, and those people often become statistics, tragically. It's hard to dispute that, and it's hard to dispute the fact that, coming out of COVID in particular, the situation has possibly become worse. That doesn't mean there haven't been investments, and it doesn't mean we haven't made historic investments as a government in keeping people safe. Some of those are game-changers and will keep people alive, which is important to recognize.

On June 3, this coming weekend, or on Monday, we will be releasing a departmental report that focuses specifically on those items. I encourage you to read it. One thing we've heard in particular this year is that we have to make sure we proceed towards accountability, because people can listen to me as long as the day is, but it's not necessarily credible if I'm giving myself grades. This is an area where we really need an ombudsperson, someone who can assess where we are at this stage, and it isn't rosy. I'll concede that there's work to do.

[Jamie Schmale, Conservative, Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON]

Well, I'll tell you this. I'm sure you know this, Minister—I'm sorry; my time is short—but according to APTN, indigenous and women and girls accounted for 65% of all female homicides from 2018 to 2022. According to APTN, during 2007 to 2017, 34% of female homicide victims were indigenous women, so that's a pretty significant jump. APTN also says that indigenous women account for every single unsolved female homicide in Canada in the last five years.

We're going up, not down. Your government needs to deal with bail reform. It needs to stop going after hunters and farmers. I don't think going up like this in this significant category in this significant file, where people's lives are being lost.... Ross River Dena Council just a few weeks ago declared a state of emergency after Ramona Peter went missing.

This is not getting better, Minister. I know you're saying to look forward to this work, but we have women going missing, and they're being killed. Just look at Winnipeg right now. It's a very sad situation that is not getting any better.

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC]

I don't dispute those statistics, and I think we have to look them straight in the eyes, but I think you also have to take stock of some of the positions your leader has stated with respect to this so-called “tough on crime” strategy, which will have a net result of keeping more indigenous women and racialized folks in jail and making people more vulnerable, so when we talk about bail reform, let's talk about exactly what that means.

[Jamie Schmale, Conservative, Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON]

Minister, indigenous women accounted for every single unsolved female homicide in the last five years, and that's under your government's watch—every single unsolved murder.

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC]

You're well aware of the role we play to not only accompany victims but to make sure that the police are investigating and doing their job in investigating those murders. A lot of those cases go unsolved. A lot of them are under the jurisdiction of provincial government, so there's a role for everyone to play. We wear this on our shoulders, MP Schmale, and that is clear. It doesn't mean the investments haven't been made.