Madam Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to share my views on this important and difficult issue of federal funding for the Aboriginal Healing Foundation. I will begin by setting some context in terms of information about this.
The idea for the Aboriginal Healing Foundation grew out of the report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples published in 1996. I will add that I have been involved in this portfolio since prior to 1996, so I fully comprehend how we got to where we are now. It has been a long journey and it is a continuing journey. The government is continuing to be actively engaged and we want to ensure that every community and every eligible person continues to receive the programs and services that they will require.
The report of the royal commission described some of the lingering social and psychological effects of Indian residential schools and how these effects continued to have an impact on many aboriginal communities. To address these effects, the Government of Canada chose at that time to invest $350 million over 10 years in an independent organization mandated to promote healing among aboriginal peoples.
This foundation is managed and operated by aboriginal people for aboriginal people. It follows a holistic approach. It funds community-based programs to promote healing, reconciliation and self-determination. Its slogan is “Helping Aboriginal People Heal Themselves”, which echoes this approach.
The foundation's website describes its mission statement:
Our mission is to provide resources which will promote reconciliation and encourage and support Aboriginal people and their communities in building and reinforcing sustainable healing processes that address the legacy of physical, sexual, mental, cultural, and spiritual abuses in the residential school system, including intergenerational impacts.
There is little doubt that the community-based approach adopted by the Aboriginal Healing Foundation has produced positive results. Hundreds of thousands of people in communities across Canada have participated in their projects. Last year alone, the foundation funded more than 130 community projects and continues to operate 12 healing centres.
A team of independent auditors evaluated the foundation on behalf of the department last year, and the evaluation was very positive. I can quote:
A number of indicator measures provide evidence that AHF healing programs at the community level are effective in facilitating healing at the individual level, and are beginning to show healing at the family and community level.
The Government of Canada does appreciate the Aboriginal Healing Foundation's valuable contribution. It is precisely for this reason that the parties to the settlement agreement negotiated an additional $125 million endowment for the Aboriginal Healing Foundation. This funding effectively extended the organization's mandate through to March 2012 and supports the operation of the foundation's 12 healing centres until that date.
The budget tabled earlier this month, however, does not allocate additional money to the Aboriginal Healing Foundation, and that is what today's debate focuses on, the merits of that decision. I encourage my hon. colleagues to consider this matter in an open fashion.
Two important facts are germane to today's debate. One is that the Government of Canada allocated the foundation's funding for a fixed period of time, and while this period was later extended, there was no expectation to provide permanent, ongoing funds.
The second factor is that the foundation predates the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement by nearly a decade. The agreement involves a massive commitment of public funds, a total of more than $5 billion, to address the legacy of Indian residential schools.
So we cannot do an evaluation of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation without a review of the settlement agreement.
Nearly four years ago, our government proudly concluded the historic Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement. It represents the consensus based on an agreement between the Government of Canada and legal counsel for former students, churches, the Assembly of First Nations, and other aboriginal organizations. It is to achieve a fair and lasting resolution of the legacy of Indian residential schools.
The agreement represents a historic milestone. It is the largest class action settlement ever negotiated in Canada, and certainly one the largest in North America. It is an important act of reconciliation between non-aboriginal and aboriginal peoples. Never before has a nation acknowledged as tangibly the devastating role that its policies and actions had on the peoples who originally inhabited its lands.
However, as momentous as this acknowledgement may be, the settlement agreement also aims for much higher goals. It strives for truth, reconciliation and reparation.
The agreement was the culmination of a lengthy process of research, conciliation and negotiation. It features five main elements: a common experience payment for all eligible former students who resided at recognized Indian residential schools; an independent assessment process to investigate and resolve claims of sexual and serious physical abuse; the Truth and Reconciliation Commission commemoration initiatives; and measures to support healing, such as the Indian residential schools resolution health support program and the endowment to the Aboriginal Healing Foundation.
Each of these elements aims to deal with the negative impacts that Indian residential schools had, and continue to have, on former students, their families and other citizens of Canada.
The Prime Minister spoke of the enduring nature of these impacts when he rose in the House nearly two years ago and apologized to former students on behalf of Canada. To quote from his address:
The legacy of Indian residential schools has contributed to social problems that continue to exist in many communities today.
We all recognize that many former students and their families suffered terribly during this regrettable phase of our history. We must also recognize that Indian residential schools, effectively, diminished all of us.
The Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement aims to confront these truths and help us overcome them. This is why the settlement agreement features both tangible and symbolic elements, why it provides financial compensation, counselling and support services along with commemorative activities.
The Indian residential schools legacy affects each of us in different ways and to different degrees. The particular components of the settlement agreement contribute to the full range of healing and reconciliation processes.
The implementation of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement continues steadily, and all Canadians should take pride in this progress. More than $1.5 billion in common experience payments have been made, and more than 99,000 claims have been received.
The independent assessment process has achieved similar success. This out-of-court settlement process aims to resolve claims of physical and sexual abuse suffered at Indian residential schools. So far, more than 15,000 claims have been received, and victims have received more than $270 million in compensation.
Of course, no amount of money can ever hope to fully compensate for the damage caused by Indian residential schools. All we can do is hope that these funds enable individuals to move forward with their lives and achieve a sense of peace, and that reconciliation brings aboriginal and non-aboriginal Canadians a little closer together.
Remember, there is no precedent for such large-scale reconciliation. As citizens of Canada, we must find our own way, and we have.
The Government of Canada remains committed to a fair and lasting resolution to the legacy of Indian residential schools. This government recognizes that bringing closure to the legacy lies at the heart of reconciliation and a renewal of the relationship between aboriginal people who attended these schools, their families and communities, and all Canadians.
Budget 2010 supports these goals by allocating additional funds to ensure Canada honours its commitments and obligations under the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement. The bulk of this money is spread over two years and will cover the greater-than-anticipated cost of implementing the agreement. These funds will help Indian and Northern Affairs Canada to support the independent assessment process and the common experience payment.
In addition, funds and a full commitment have been allotted to Health Canada's Indian residential schools resolution health support program. The program provides mental health and emotional support services directly to former students and their families as they participate in the various components of the settlement agreement, such as the independent assessment process and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. This is a moral and legal obligation.
It is important to note that this is new money. It is also important to note that these funds enable Canada to fulfill its ongoing legal obligation to provide emotional and mental health supports directly to former Indian residential school students and their family members as they participate in the various components of the settlement agreement.
Since its inception, the Aboriginal Healing Foundation has received a total of approximately $515 million from the Government of Canada. This is a large amount of taxpayer money which was entrusted to an independent agency, and the Government of Canada is very grateful to the foundation for providing effective community-based programs and services.
The current context will also provide the range of services delivered, except it will be through Health Canada.
The Government of Canada continues to fund initiatives that directly support survivors of the Indian residential schools. The national Indian residential school crisis line, for instance, helps people access counselling services. The independent assessment process, a component of the settlement agreement, enables eligible victims to access thousands of dollars worth of future treatment and counselling services. To date, the average independent assessment process award is $125,000, and the average future care component is more than $8,000.
Canadians recognize that the Government of Canada must regularly make difficult decisions. We continue to ensure that the Indian residential school survivors will be able to access services. The government will continue to provide reconciliation for the legacy of Indian residential schools by supporting the settlement agreement.
This government will also continue to support a range of programs and initiatives that aim to improve the quality of life experienced by aboriginal peoples in this country.
Canada continues to make significant progress on a broad range of the issues that prevent many aboriginal peoples from sharing in the full prosperity of the nation. From specific claims and drinking water to education and family services, a variety of reforms and initiatives are under way. Tripartite agreements with provinces and aboriginal groups increase access to programs that are more effective and respond directly to specific needs.
The implementation of a comprehensive northern strategy has begun to generate a multitude of opportunity for thousands of aboriginal people and northerners. Legislation supported by Parliament established a specific claims tribunal and extended the protections affected under the Canadian Human Rights Act to residents of first nations community.
This government continues to support a host of programs, initiatives, and activities that benefit aboriginal people, including those directly affected by the legacy of Indian residential schools.
