Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee on Oct. 31st, 2023

[Ben Carr, Liberal, Winnipeg South Centre, MB]

Thanks very much.

You said, “itty-bitties”. I was in education for a long time, but I have not heard that term. I'm bringing that back to Manitoba—the “itty-bitties”.

[Jordyn Playne]

That's perfect.

[Ben Carr, Liberal, Winnipeg South Centre, MB]

Thank you.

Mr. Stenlund, thanks very much for your participation. I give you kudos for taking time out of your day to participate in the democratic process in support of something that means a lot to you.

[The Chair, Liberal, John Aldag]

Thank you.

We're going now to Madame Bérubé.

You have six minutes.

[Sylvie Bérubé, Bloc, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to the witnesses for joining us, both in person and remotely.

My question is for Ms. Playne.

In an op‑ed piece that appeared in the Toronto Star on Saturday, you said that Métis youth felt disheartened and anxious.

You also spoke about polarization, saying partisan politics was a growing problem impacting Métis youth.

Can you give the committee a clearer picture of the concerns you have regarding Métis youth?

[Jordyn Playne]

Thank you for your question.

Absolutely.

I should also note that I'm a registered social worker. I work in a psychiatric hospital in my home community. This is where the intersection of my elected position and my social work position comes into play. I have conversations on a daily basis with young people about how they are affected by this misinformation. My community in particular—the Georgian Bay community—has been called into question. We've been called frauds, not real and not actually existent. You don't know what that does to a person until you see it in big, bold letters in academic articles or newspapers. To see your community called out.... Your family history feels as if it's been erased.

That's what makes people anxious. If we're seeing these questions and call-outs happen, what's next? We don't know, but I can assure you that Métis young people across Ontario know who we are. We are proud. We are born and raised in our communities, as Hayden shared earlier. That is something that is unequivocal and firm for Métis young people, which helps with the anxiety.

[Sylvie Bérubé, Bloc, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC]

What impact would Bill C‑53 have on Métis youth?

[Jordyn Playne]

“How won't this impact Métis youth?” is the real question. This will fundamentally impact young people in every single way. One of the beautiful things all our Métis governments have engaged in is ensuring young people are at the centre of every dialogue that happens. When we think about our laws, our policies, the way our child welfare system could be shaped or our mental health supports, young people are in those conversations.

This bill moving forward would empower young people to continue those dialogues in order to shape a Métis nation not only for ourselves but also for the future generations—for my children and my children's children.

[Sylvie Bérubé, Bloc, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC]

I'm going to turn to Mr. Stenlund.

I commend you for participating in the committee's study. It takes a lot of courage to be here as a student.

What are your concerns regarding Métis youth?

[Hayden Stenlund]

I am concerned that some people don't think we are an actual indigenous group and that some people don't believe us when we say we are Métis. We should be proud of who we are. We should be able to say, without repercussion, that we are indigenous, that we have an identity, that we have a way of life and that we are strong, proud Métis people who have a culture and a language, which is Michif. We have jigging, fiddling and ways that should be recognized. We shouldn't be cast aside. We should have a voice at the table.

[Sylvie Bérubé, Bloc, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC]

My question is for both Ms. Playne and Mr. Stenlund.

In the current landscape, what happens to Métis young people when they grow up? When something like this goes on and on, what is the intergenerational impact?

[Theresa Stenlund]

First, I'm going to thank Hayden.

You can go and catch your school bus now, Hayden. You can disconnect and head off. Thanks.

On the question of the intergenerational effects that this could have, as you heard my son say, he knows where he came from. He has been raised within a Métis community. His ancestors before him knew who they were. Canada formally recognized us. With Canada delaying this, it puts into question—as Hayden just spoke—who we are as a people. Are we a real people? We know that we are. We are recognized in the Constitution, yet Canada is delaying formally recognizing our inherent right to self-government.

You need to move forward and treat us equitably.

[Sylvie Bérubé, Bloc, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC]

My last question is for Ms. Omeniho.

What does recognition mean for women in Métis communities?

[Melanie Omeniho]

Thank you for the question.

I'd like to tell you that, for many women in our communities, it means that their roles are much more significant. We come from a strong egalitarian society where women were a significant part of all of the things that we did. You can see that in the leadership that exists within the Métis nation and how many of our leaders are Métis women who are holding strong and pushing forward on Métis rights. We proudly stand with them and support them.

Métis women, more than anybody, know the sacrifices that were made when we became a part of the forgotten people. I know that most Métis women we've consulted with and engaged with are very supportive of this legislation.

I come from Alberta. There has been an extensive amount of consultation and engagement around the Constitution and what self-government means. I'm no longer a young person, but since I was a very young person and my mother took me to Métis meetings—I even went to Métis meetings with my grandmother—we have talked about self-government. People wanted self-governance. It has been decades for us to get to this point, and I think the important part is moving forward. We're not here to try to deny anybody else their rights, but I will tell you that we have not been engaged on other indigenous self-government legislation with other indigenous peoples. It wasn't a requirement.

I appreciate that there are a lot of processes involved within the Government of Canada in how legislation gets passed and what treaties do, but those are processes that the government controls. We have no control over any of those matters.

[The Chair, Liberal, John Aldag]

Thank you. We're at the end of our six minutes.

Now we'll go to Ms. Idlout.

The floor is yours.

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

[Member spoke in Inuktitut, interpreted as follows:]

Thank you, Mr. Chairperson.

Thank you to the witnesses. It is always a pleasure to hear what you have to say and to hear the youth as well. The young man delivered his speech really well.

Theresa, I am so proud of your son. Although he is still going to high school, he is already showing signs of leadership.

I want to ask every one of you if you can respond to my question.

If Bill C-53 is passed, in Alberta, Ontario and Saskatchewan, when the Métis have their own government, when you have self-government, you will be able to pass bylaws. What kind of legislation would you like to see in the constitution? As a self-governing people in Ontario, Alberta and Saskatchewan, what kind of legislation would you like to see for Métis to be able to govern themselves?

[English]

What kinds of laws would you like those self-governing nations to make? We're assuming that by having self-government that will naturally lead to those self-governments making laws. What kinds of laws would you like to see those nations making that will have impacts on Métis peoples in each of the nations that will be impacted?

[Jordyn Playne]

Thank you.

I wish I could sit here and answer that, but I think one thing that was raised earlier was that we need to consult with our people. We need to talk to them about what laws they want to see. It's not up to me. It's up to the people. We listen, we sit and we learn, and then we go back and make those decisions.

I wish I could sit here today and list off 50 different laws that I would love to see, but I'd be misspeaking, because I know young people love to be in dialogue and that's what we plan on doing. We want to have that dialogue in order to make those decisions. I can guarantee you that young people will be at the centre of those dialogues.

[The Chair, Liberal, John Aldag]

Maybe we'll go to Ms. Omeniho next and then to Ms. Stenlund.

[Melanie Omeniho]

For us, there are significant numbers of laws and things that need to be done and that, once self-government is implemented, will be within the control of our Métis governments to institute: things like decisions and laws based on family and child services and how to care for our families and children in a reformed manner from what exists today so that we don't have high numbers of kids in care.

We need to start looking at laws that are going to help us be more effective around the justice system so that not only do we not become victims of justice but we don't have the highest incarceration rates within the criminal justice system and we're able to become an effective government to deal with some of the issues we're facing within the justice system.

There are many different laws. I agree with what has already been said. There are too many to think.... The problem is that they need the tools and resources now to be able to start to institute those things and to push and work with other governments to change things so that there is a better future for our children and our youth.

[Theresa Stenlund]

Thank you to the two previous speakers.

I just want to remind everyone that we have inherent rights, and our rights come from the communities. We will need to go out, as Jordyn mentioned, and consult with our communities and our citizens.

There will be different levels of jurisdiction and authority. Within the Métis Nation of Ontario, there will be regional jurisdictions, authorities and laws, and there will also be provincial jurisdictions and authorities of different levels, on different matters. All of that is going to come from the people and our communities. They will be the ones providing us the direction in regard to the laws and the jurisdictions and authorities we set forward under our own self-government.

[The Chair, Liberal, John Aldag]

That takes us to the end of our time, unfortunately. The votes cut into our meeting time today, and we have one more panel to hear from, so we're going to have to end it here.

I'd like to thank each of our witnesses—Ms. Stenlund, if you could, pass along our gratitude once again to your son for his being here—and thank all of you for joining us.

With that, we're going to suspend, and bring in the next panel. We'll do opening statements, and then one round of questions. That will take us near the end of the time we have today.

[The Chair, Liberal, John Aldag]

Colleagues, we're back. I'd like to welcome our second panel.

From the Matawa First Nations, we have David Paul Achneepineskum, chief executive officer. From the Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations, we have Chief Greg Desjarlais.

Welcome to both of you. You'll have five minutes each for your opening statements. We'll then get into probably one round of questions for six minutes each, 24 minutes in total. That will likely take us to about the end of the time we have today.

Mr. Achneepineskum, I'll hold up the yellow card when there's 30 seconds left and a red card when the time is up. Just finish your thought; don't stop mid-sentence.

When you're ready, the floor is yours. You have five minutes.

[David Paul Achneepineskum, Chief Executive Officer, Matawa First Nations]

My name is David Paul Achneepineskum. I'm the Matawa chief executive officer. I'm also a member of Marten Falls First Nation.

I am presenting today on behalf of Matawa First Nations management and the Matawa chiefs council. There was very limited advance notice of these standing committee hearings, with only a few hours given to confirm our participation here today, but we are here.

The Matawa chiefs council represents the nine first nations of Aroland, Constance Lake, Eabametoong, Ginoogaming, Long Lake #58, Marten Falls, Nibinamik, Neskantaga and Webequie. The Matawa First Nations has a population of 10,864 as of March 2023.

The Matawa traditional territories and homelands are known around the world as the Ring of Fire region, Canada's and North America's emerging lone source of chromite and other critical minerals—nickel, gold and silver—that will be required to reposition Canada and its allies in the new green economy.

On June 21, 2023, the day Bill C-53 was introduced and referred at second reading [Technical difficulty—Editor] the Matawa chiefs council issued a letter to the Governor General of Canada, Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary Simon, calling on her to respond to protect the rights and interests of our first nations.

[The Chair, Liberal, John Aldag]

I'm sorry. I'm going to have to jump in here for a second. I'll stop the clock. Your sound quality has deteriorated quite significantly. I'm having problems hearing you, and I think our interpreters are having problems.

Perhaps I can get you to do another quick sound check. We may get you to move the mike.

I'll turn it over to our clerk to get you sorted out. Then we can hopefully resume with good sound quality.

[The Chair, Liberal, John Aldag]

You have our apologies for that. If you speak nice and loud and clearly, we should be able to get through this.

You have three minutes and 20 seconds left on the clock. Please continue where you left off.