Evidence of meeting #88 for Public Accounts in the 44th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was education.
A video is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Liberal
Jean Yip Liberal Scarborough—Agincourt, ON
Okay.
Can you give us a sense of the process of developing and formalizing education agreements with first nations?
Senior Director, Department of Indigenous Services
It's done through a structured process. We essentially meet with the mandated team from the first nation, and we start going through various pillars we've defined in our public material.
It starts with first nations defining their objectives, gaps, vision and goals, and then what timeline they would take to get to those closed gaps, beyond the comparable funding that's given now, what defined activities would be needed to close those gaps, and what the defined costing would be for those activities, over a period of time, to achieve gap closing and to achieve the defined vision and outcome.
In a nutshell, that's essentially the process for an REA.
Bloc
The Vice-Chair Bloc Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné
Good.
I'll give myself one minute and I'll be just as strict as with other people.
On June 14, 2022, the Auditor General made a noteworthy statement:
The longer we push back deadlines, the more likely it is that another generation of families in first nations communities will grow up without access to safe drinking water. And yet, this is truly a critical need.
Since we know that development is impossible if basic needs aren't met, we're not only depriving these people of their dignity, we're also depriving them of any possibility of economic development.
Do you feel that you have neglected this file, or are you on the right track to ensure that the next Auditor General's report will say that water advisories on reserves are finally a thing of the past?
Deputy Minister, Department of Indigenous Services
Thank you for your question.
No, I don't believe we've neglected this file. We've worked very hard at prioritizing.
When I first joined the department, the minister indicated to me that her biggest priority was water, so it has been a priority for all of this team. Everyone has done their absolute best, and I'm very proud of them.
The Vice-Chair Bloc Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné
Mr. Desjarlais, you have the floor for one minute.
We'll then finish up the meeting.
NDP
Blake Desjarlais NDP Edmonton Griesbach, AB
Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
Continuing my question, if this legislation is not intended to deal with treaty matters and with the obligation of the Crown to ensure that first nations entitlements are fully met, where would these important matters be addressed, specifically?
Deputy Minister, Department of Indigenous Services
I'll ask Nelson to speak to the treaty issue when it comes to the legislation.
Director General, Community Infrastructure, Department of Indigenous Services
I think there are two parts to that question. What the water legislation could or should be, I think, would be a question for parliamentarians, should it enter the House. Certainly, we hope that it would respect first nations' rights and that it would underscore the need to build frameworks for adequate funding to support the infrastructure needs and the development of a regulatory environment.
With respect to other conversations, which could be quite large, I think there are existing tables to speak to education, health and non-legislative water activities. We have colleagues here from Crown-Indigenous Relations, which helps to support treaty negotiations and the implementation of long-awaited treaties.
There are multipronged approaches for many conversations with first nations partners, but we hope we can bring to rest at least a regulatory gap on water affairs through this potential legislation.
Bloc
The Vice-Chair Bloc Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné
I want to thank the witnesses for joining us.
Does everyone agree that the meeting should be adjourned so that we can go and vote? Yes? Thank you.
The meeting is adjourned.