Public Accounts Committee on April 11th, 2024

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

How much time do I have?

[Dr. Tom Wong]

I have an additional comment regarding that.

Right now there is a new initiative, which is to try to recruit and retain indigenous environmental public health officers. Currently about 40% of the environmental public health officers are indigenous. With this new initiative that's especially supporting indigenous people who want to become one, there are laddering opportunities to work with academic institutions in order to achieve that.

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

How many would be living on reserve—

[The Chair, Conservative, John Williamson]

Thank you, Mr. Schmale. That is your time, but your side will have one more spot.

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

I got that in before you said that.

[The Chair, Conservative, John Williamson]

That's not how it works.

When you're past your time—

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

I want to challenge the chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, John Williamson]

You go right ahead.

Ms. Yip, you have the floor for three minutes, because I will be voting with the Liberals on this one, Mr. Schmale.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Chair, Conservative, John Williamson]

I'm sure I'll win that vote.

Ms. Yip, you have the floor.

[Jean Yip, Liberal, Scarborough—Agincourt, ON]

Thank you, Chair.

Today I've heard over and over again that much more needs to be done. I see that both CMHC and ISC have submitted action plans. When I look at the action plans, I see that the dates are 2025, 2026 and 2027, except for the building code recommendation, which is 2024.

Can Mr. Tremblay and Ms. Wilson comment on that?

[Gina Wilson]

Mr. Chair, I had the same question when I looked at the action plans.

One, for example, said that after 2027, we would have to look at funding. I was told—and it makes a lot of sense—that the budget 2022 allocations for the next number of years had already been allocated, so we'll have to wait on that timeline to actually go and change the allocation.

That's just one example.

[Michel Tremblay]

Mr. Chair, as I've said, we are committed to responding to the auditor's report and action plan. We are going to make every effort to actually meet the deadlines and even exceed the timelines, if we can.

[Jean Yip, Liberal, Scarborough—Agincourt, ON]

Ms. Wilson, in your opening statement you mentioned a preliminary action plan. Is that different from what we see here?

[Joanne Wilkinson]

Yes. The preliminary action plan that was referenced in the deputy's opening comments is the one that was tabled with the committee.

[Jean Yip, Liberal, Scarborough—Agincourt, ON]

Thank you.

Ms. Wilson, from your perspective and also based on what you hear from first nation partners, are some of these programs working?

[Gina Wilson]

Nelson talked about some of the community well-being index indicators, which I was pleased to see were actually going up when it comes to first nations in a number of areas. I would hope that anyone would be open to looking at that presentation of the community well-being index at some point, because it is quite promising. I am hopeful.

[Jean Yip, Liberal, Scarborough—Agincourt, ON]

What are you hearing from the community in terms of changes and improvements?

[Gina Wilson]

Many communities, when it comes to first nations, are very differentiated. Many of those communities are still in crisis. They're still suffering. There are still a lot of issues there, while many communities are evolving and moving forward. Communities like Membertou that are doing great and don't really need Indigenous Services Canada to be involved.

It's a whole gamut, a whole range and a whole continuum of communities.

[Jean Yip, Liberal, Scarborough—Agincourt, ON]

Mr. Tremblay, this is in regard to the $4.3 billion urban, rural and northern indigenous housing strategy. Could you tell me more about this 10-year housing and infrastructure strategy?

[Michel Tremblay]

The housing and infrastructure strategy is actually from Indigenous Services Canada. The urban, rural and northern strategy is the strategy that the government will launch in this upcoming fiscal year to address urban, rural and northern challenges for indigenous people. We are creating an indigenous centre that will manage the bulk of the money.

[The Chair, Conservative, John Williamson]

Thank you.

We now go to Ms. Sinclair‑Desgagné for a minute and 40 seconds.

[Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné, Bloc, Terrebonne, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I want to revisit something we talked about earlier. As far as I'm concerned, the governing party—which has been in power for eight and a half years now—should tread very lightly when it comes to minimizing the rather damning findings in this report. I'm talking about the implication that the number of homes affected by mould was exaggerated because people were more likely to identify it. That is very wrong.

It's time to start paying attention to the devastating findings in this and previous reports. As mentioned, some progress has been made. For example, we found out that Indigenous Services Canada would be undergoing major changes—and that's what we wanted to hear. I really want to focus on that.

Ms. Wilson, you said that there would be a greater focus on the self-determination of indigenous peoples, and that's good. I'm happy to hear it. As you know, self-determination is something I care deeply about. Something else that came up was the importance of ceasing to deliver programs in silos and making them more tailored to communities. Most importantly, communities have to be able to choose how they want to use their funding.

Are there any other solutions you'd like to talk about in this public forum?

[Gina Wilson]

The only thing I'd refer to in five seconds is this infrastructure modernization initiative that we're moving forward on. It's a game-changer.

[The Chair, Conservative, John Williamson]

Thank you.

You have 30 seconds left.