Jenica Atwin

[Questions on the Order Paper, April 15th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, with regard to (a)(i), there is no expected decrease in spending. Further funding will be sought as required to ensure the Jordan's principle initiative is fully funded. Canada is committed to making sure that Indigenous children get the care they need, when they need it, by fully funding Jordan’s Principle.

With regard to (a)(ii), there is no expected decrease in spending. Further funding will be sought as required to ensure the Inuit Child First Initiative is fully funded as per the continued commitment and work by Canada and its Inuit partners to co-develop and implement a new model.

With regard to (b)(i), at this time, the forecast for 2023-24 (up to January 31, 2024) spending is approximately $1.46 billion.

With regard to (b)(ii) and (iii), at this time, due to the demand-driven nature of Jordan's principle and significant growth in request volume, future expenditures cannot be accurately estimated.

With regard to (c)(i), at this time, the forecast for 2023-24 spending is approximately $1.46 billion.

With regard to (c)(ii) and (iii), at this time, due to the demand driven nature of Jordan's principle and significant growth in request volume, future expenditures cannot be accurately estimated.

[Canadian Sustainable Jobs Act, April 11th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, on a point of order, I take significant offence to the idea that I do not understand math. I take that as a comment on my intelligence, which you previously ruled on.

[Canadian Sustainable Jobs Act, April 11th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, I am going to bring it back to the points made by the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands. I really feel that there is a significant overreaction. We heard previously, for example, from the member for Kelowna—Lake Country that 2.7 million jobs would be lost. We heard from the member for Battle River—Crowfoot that it would be 10,000 in his specific riding. We heard from the member for Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek that hundreds of thousands of jobs would be lost. Which is it?

In addition, where is it in this legislation? I see an introduction of guiding principles, creating a sustainable jobs partnership council, publishing action plans, creating a secretariat and then designating responsible and specific ministers. Where exactly are the job losses going to come from?

[Infrastructure, April 11th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for her advocacy in the House.

We thank the Assembly of First Nations for its partnership. We actually worked together with it on this report, and we welcome the important recommendations it brought forward.

We know decades of underinvestment and discrimination have led to this infrastructure deficit, which is indeed a crisis for indigenous peoples across this country.

Our government has put a stop to this, with record investments, by dramatically increasing up to 1,100% since 2016. We are taking action to close the infrastructure gap and we will not stop until it is done.

[Questions on the Order Paper, April 10th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, Indigenous Services Canada, or ISC, works closely with first nations and Inuit partners to gather and develop monitoring systems to address the need for timely, community-based and national-level data. We work collaboratively to ensure that data informs policies and programs, and we seek to build upon national monitoring and research activities. ISC also supports first nations and Inuit to develop self-determined indicators. Although data are less readily available for Métis populations, ISC also supports Métis organizations to develop a long-term strategic plan for Métis data development and governance.

In response to part (a) of the question, indicators within ISC’s departmental plan that relate to mental wellness are the percentage of first nations individuals who reported "excellent" or "very good" mental health and the percentage of Inuit adults who reported "excellent" or "very good" mental health.

In response to part (b), the Minister of Indigenous Services remains committed to working with indigenous partners to achieve by March 2028 the mental health targets identified in the departmental results framework, which seek that 55% of first nations and at least 50% of Inuit people report “excellent” or “very good” mental health. The department will measure distinctions-specific progress towards increasing positive outcomes by using data from self-reported health surveys that ask respondents to rate their mental health. This is a recognized metric that closely aligns with other measures of mental health and well-being.

As noted in several indigenous-led mental wellness strategies and frameworks, such as the first nations mental wellness continuum framework, the national Inuit suicide prevention strategy, and Métis Nation’s vision for health, addressing inequities in the social determinants of health and the impact of colonization, racism and discrimination are key to Indigenous mental wellness. The journey of reconciliation is far from complete, and it remains a priority for the government. Moving forward on the commitments of implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission calls to action continues to be a priority in the mandate of the Minister of Indigenous Services and the mandates of all ministers. It is with the knowledge that it will take at least seven generations to heal from the profound harm caused by the Indian residential School system and other colonial sources of trauma that we are working with partners to ensure that survivors and intergenerational survivors continue to have access to the services they need to support them on their healing journeys.

With respect to part (c), ISC will continue to advance its mandate to work with first nations, Inuit and Métis to improve access to high-quality services, improve well-being in indigenous communities across Canada and support Indigenous peoples in assuming control of the delivery of services at the pace and in the ways they choose. Federally funded mental wellness programming aims to improve well-being in indigenous communities across Canada by supplementing the programs and services offered by provinces and territories. Contributing to this are access to local multidisciplinary mental wellness teams, wraparound services at opioid agonist therapy sites, life promotion and suicide prevention initiatives, substance use prevention and treatment services, and crisis line services.

In response to part (d), these programs are supported by 80 full-time positions.

Regarding part (e), these mental wellness investments are funding mental wellness teams in communities, bolstering wraparound services at opioid agonist therapy sites and enhancing suicide prevention and life promotion efforts. This investment is also funding trauma-informed health and cultural support programs, including the Indian residential schools resolution health support program, the missing and murdered indigenous women and girls health and cultural support program, the federal Indian day schools health and cultural support program, and the Indian residential schools crisis line. The program funds community-based cultural and emotional support services across Canada.

[Questions on the Order Paper, March 18th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, Indigenous Services Canada’s emergency management assistance and capital facilities and maintenance programs provide funding to on-reserve and other eligible first nations communities. First nations communities are responsible for assessing their infrastructure and emergency management services needs and applying for funding.

First nations own, operate and procure their infrastructure. Neither ISC’s emergency management assistance program nor the capital facilities and maintenance program ships infrastructure or equipment to first nations. This responsibility lies with the communities that have procured services from third party providers.

[Child Poverty, February 29th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I want to use my voice in this House to raise awareness on the issue of child poverty.

As a mother, I understand the importance of a healthy, safe and nurturing environment for children to live, learn and grow. Childhood is the most formative developmental period in an individual's life, and it deserves to be protected, yet according to the recent child poverty report, in 2021 nearly one in six Canadian children were denied the right to an adequate standard of living, and this number is even higher for indigenous and racialized children.

It has been no less than 34 years since members of Parliament voted to eradicate child poverty by the year 2000. It is 2024, and our time to act is now. We can expand access and eligibility to the Canada child benefit, which has already proven successful in reducing child poverty rates; we can establish a national school food program, mitigating the immediate impacts of food insecurity on children's learning outcomes; and we can fight for a universal livable income to ensure parents do not have to choose between paying rent and feeding their child.

We owe it to the one million Canadian children suffering under our watch to do better. I ask my colleagues in this House to join me in calling for an end to child poverty.

Every child matters.

[Criminal Code, February 16th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, this is an important bill. It is a very timely bill. Just the statistics and anecdotes that were shared are just heart-wrenching, and we certainly want to support our frontline workers at every opportunity.

The member mentioned that this is an important first step and as a deterrent in our Criminal Code, it is certainly important. How do we make sure that Canadians across the country are aware of this change, that they know it is there to protect those nurses, doctors and firefighters whom the member spoke of and that they know it would have those extra penalties so that the deterrent would have the impact we want it to have?

[Canada Early Learning and Child Care Act, February 16th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I will take this opportunity to highlight that, in my province of New Brunswick, advocates have been calling for decades for access to a public child care system. They are really excited to see the advances that our government has made. Of course, we need to be there to support providers as this transition occurs and moves us to where we really want to see access to $10-a-day child care.

Unfortunately, the member also decided to take a swipe at the most vulnerable and speak about the issue of the guise of parental rights. I would like to ask him that question with regard to what is happening in Alberta. In consideration of parental rights, what does the member say to the parents who want gender-affirming care for their children but can now no longer access it because of government imposition?

[Health, February 16th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, I am tremendously grateful for the allyship of the member across the way and for that very important question. That clinic is located in my riding. It is an issue that I have been on for many years. The federal government actually has stepped up and has supported research projects to support better data collection to inform our provincial partners, who really hold the pen on this issue. We have also held back provincial transfers, to ensure that the Canada Health Act is upheld. More absolutely needs to be done. Reproductive rights must be ensured in this country, no matter where one lives.