Health committee  We've been working to try to make sure that the information is getting out. NAFC is partnering with the Well Living House to ensure that urban-specific information is getting out. We've also been working with Indigenous Services and Dr. Valerie Gideon. We're about to embark on some urban-specific messaging and communications.

Health committee  Are you referring to costs in the territories?

Health committee  I might not be the best person. We're looking at friendship centres all across. Perhaps in the northern territories that might be the case, but the folks from ITK might be better able to speak to those matters.

Health committee  Perhaps I could add quickly what we've been hearing from the friendship centres. There are a few things. A lot of the friendship centres are trying to provide supports for youth who are in foster care or who are youth in care, because sometimes the friendship centre is the connection to their culture and their community in the urban spaces.

Health committee  Maybe I'll start on that and then ask President Sheppard-Buote to jump in. It's been a challenge, because we don't want to be seen as throwing anybody under the bus. That's why, in my criticisms of the distinction-based, we're saying that there has to be a consideration for remoteness, for those who live in the north, for women and for a number of different intersections in terms of what makes up an indigenous person.

Health committee  Good afternoon, everyone. I am going to do the first five minutes and then I'm going to hand it off to our president, Mr. Sheppard-Buote. My name is Jocelyn Formsma. I am the executive director of the National Association of Friendship Centres, NAFC. I am originally from northern Ontario.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I'll add the experience from the Indian Child Welfare Act, which was enacted in 1970s and never had funding attached to it. Tribes are left to put together piecemeal funding to run their.... They have the jurisdiction, their tribal courts have jurisdiction, and they've had it since the 1970s.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  A few things are already happening and there are some things to think about. Certainly we don't ever want to be viewed as holding up a rightful jurisdiction of government. As best we can, we intend to provide perspectives on how we see this bill rolling out. We have a few ways to look at it.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  That's one of the questions we've had about the definition section because the piece there is—

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes. There are examples where first nations have authorized friendship centres to act in the band rep role, as in the party in legal.... There are cases where that specific instance would be authorized, but it's very explicit. In other situations, a friendship centre, social worker, court worker attends court with a family.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  We have a network of 112 member friendship centres, which also includes our provincial and territorial associations. To say that any one of them does the same thing.... Friendship centres provide a wide and vast array of programs and services. The cultural competency programming was when we did our outreach that came back from the Under One Sky Friendship Centre in New Brunswick.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I would not have any idea of what those numbers are, because—

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I think so. Regardless of who has the jurisdiction, I think there are still going to be indigenous children in care. There are still going to be non-indigenous foster parents, and they're still going to drop their kids off at friendship centres to receive cultural programming. We don't have any data that captures any of that, at all.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I'd have to look it up, but you can look on UAKN.org. You just look in “child services” or “child welfare”, and all of the research we have done in that area will come up on that website.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you so much for the invitation. We appreciate the opportunity to provide comments this morning. Wachay misiway. Jocelyn Formsma nitoscheen. I'm from the Moose Cree First Nation. I'm currently the executive director at the National Association of Friendship Centres. For the last 15 years or so I've also been an indigenous children's rights advocate and an advocate for indigenous youth engagement and leadership development.