Status of Women Committee on Jan. 14th, 2011

[Nicole Demers, Bloc, Laval, QC]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

Having someone here who is quite familiar with the territory is very helpful. Chief Toulouse, you have to invite us. It's never too late to be invited. We cannot invite ourselves to communities if we are not sure that we'll be welcome. We invite ourselves to the area, but if you invite us, I am sure that we will do our best to get to where you want us to go.

If you don't receive core funding, what are your sources of funding? How do you operate? How does your group operate?

A little earlier, my colleague Mr. Rickford talked about a Status of Women Canada program. It had to do with an intern at Status of Women Canada. Could you please expand on this a bit more? It would be interesting, because Status of Women Canada has programs that work very well. If you have an intern, I would like to know about it just so that we have your confirmation.

I would also like to know if you have prevention programs for fetal alcohol syndrome. If there are alcohol problems in the communities, then there probably also are problems associated with fetal alcohol syndrome in young pregnant women.

[Darlene Angeconeb]

Well, we used to have the fetal alcohol syndrome program, but we no longer have it. It's kind of moved off into its own office, so away from Equay-wuk. The fetal alcohol spectrum disorder moneys are given to the Nishnawbe Aski Nation. That's a bigger organization, and they look after most of the same communities that we look after.

[Karen Kuzemczak]

Regarding the FASD, for the community wellness programs I have a model that I take into the schools. We have 31 communities in our catchment area, and there's only enough funding to visit 10 to 15 communities in a year. What happens is that I fly up to the communities with my resources and try to see as many individuals as I can.

Regarding the FASD, I do have a model that I take into the schools and talk to some of the youth about. As well, during the drug, solvent, and alcohol abuse workshops, I do talk about the FASD.

[Nicole Demers, Bloc, Laval, QC]

So you have about half the money you need to provide support, is that right?

[Darlene Angeconeb]

Not specifically on FASD. We usually tell people who call us to call NAN because they get funding for that program. As for the Status of Women funding for the intern, that person...there's no such person with us. We don't have Status of Women funding.

[Nicole Demers, Bloc, Laval, QC]

Where do you get your funding from?

[Darlene Angeconeb]

The funding is project funding. Each project or each program that is happening within our organization is able to fund a part-time bookkeeper and a program director, for the time being--

[Karen Kuzemczak]

Coming from the ministry of health promotion.

[Darlene Angeconeb]

Well, it comes from the different programs. Each program might put in, I don't know, 15% into the admin.

[Nicole Demers, Bloc, Laval, QC]

So you work six months a year writing proposals.

[Darlene Angeconeb]

We don't even have a person who is hired within our organization to write the funding, but I usually end up doing it as an extra duty.

[Nicole Demers, Bloc, Laval, QC]

Is that a lot of work for you?

[Darlene Angeconeb]

Yes.

[Nicole Demers, Bloc, Laval, QC]

Do you also have to prepare reports on the projects you carry out?

[Darlene Angeconeb]

Yes, some of them.

[Nicole Demers, Bloc, Laval, QC]

Yes?

[Darlene Angeconeb]

Overworked.

But there's another person who looks after the training proposals, so it's not just me doing the whole thing, no.

[Nicole Demers, Bloc, Laval, QC]

You are a role model for the women in your community. Is there a mentorship program in place in your community?

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Irene Mathyssen]

We're at five minutes. Very quickly, your response.

[Darlene Angeconeb]

No.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Irene Mathyssen]

Thank you very much.

I have two questions, and I will try to be very succinct.

The first question has to do with the Aboriginal Healing Foundation. That has been defunded. It's winding down. I'm wondering if the loss of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation support is problematic. Does it impact the community?

My second question is—and it was alluded to by Madam Simson. We were in Winnipeg and we met some young people who had travelled to experience their secondary education. They were 13 and 14 years of age. Once they got to Winnipeg, the support worker said that immediately they were identified as innocents in the city by predators and were victimized. They ended up in some very serious situations.

So going back to this question of taking children, very young children, out of their safe home communities and transplanting them for the purposes of education, it sounded very much like a repeat of the residential school experience.

Darlene and Karen, you talked about long distance education, and we've also talked about the fact that stores do try to reduce the cost of food as a partial solution. Is distance education another possible solution, allowing these young people to stay here longer and get their education here? Is that another possible solution? Feel free to answer.

[Darlene Angeconeb]

It's happening now within the high school. They have Wahsa Distance Education, and that's done over the radio. So it is possible. They have video conferencing facilities now that are available for meetings, and also for classrooms and workshops. It's possible to have more distance education, yes.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Irene Mathyssen]

And is it as available as it should be or needs to be?

[Darlene Angeconeb]

I think there needs to be more funding, because I know the facilities they have within the communities might not be up to par with whatever's happening in the towns or cities.

[Chief Angus Toulouse]

Just a quick comment on the Aboriginal Healing Foundation and the resources. There really is still a need. I think to say that all of a sudden, boom, you're healed...that's not happening in our first nations communities. There is the real need to recognize that once those resources dry up for groups of first nations or organizations that are developing those healing programs and services, they're going to be at a loss. There's still a need for it, and I think that is where it's going to be really challenging, to see that some of the good work that has gone on is sustained.