Human Resources committee  Thank you very much. Thank you for the opportunity to be here. Welcome to Treaty 1 territory, the home of the Métis nation. Also, welcome to the indigenous capital of Canada. We know that we have more indigenous people here per capita than anywhere else in Canada. That is really

Human Resources committee  In regard to education and training, I would invest in those indigenous-led organizations that are already doing great work. In Winnipeg we have the Centre for Aboriginal Human Resource Development, CAHRD, which is an indigenous-led organization that has been working on building

Human Resources committee  The answer is very complex—

Human Resources committee  —because sometimes, and we're not blaming her for her circumstances, the system puts women into these difficult circumstances. So chances are, particularly if you're living in Winnipeg, you were most likely connected to child welfare at some point, which creates a lack of opportu

Human Resources committee  They may or may not be there because of historical factors of us reclaiming our understanding and experience of being in a relationship. Relationships for us are harder than they are for other people because we've been removed from our families. We've been isolated generationally

Human Resources committee  To me that's where the easy answer is. I believe the indigenous community needs to lead that, in partnership, of course. We need to lead that, to define that, and be funded adequately in order to address the issues that are facing our community. It's about building from the insid

Human Resources committee  First, I would agree that, absolutely, the child benefit helps, and it's not clawed back, which is extremely helpful to families. As food goes up, no other money goes up. If you are on social assistance—and it has been that way for a really long time, with no increases to assist

Human Resources committee  Yes. That's one of the areas in which the Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre specializes. You call it innovation. We call it indigenous traditional knowledge, where we are doing things differently. For example, we have a program called family group conferencing, which changes child welf

Human Resources committee  I would say they are excluded from helping.

Human Resources committee  We create systems within our school system that don't always encourage parental involvement. Leading up to that, just in context, I would say that another program the Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre operates that has been very successful nationally and well evaluated is aboriginal h

Human Resources committee  It's the aboriginal head start program. We are finding that the problem is.... It has high parental involvement. We get the families engaged, and then the kids are speaking three languages. They're ready for kindergarten, and they know all their stuff. Then they get to school, a

Human Resources committee  Yes, recently it does feel as if the federal government is stepping up. There are consultations like this, but there is that sense within the community that there's more opportunity for funding programs and for engagements, etc. I think some good first steps have happened. We a

Human Resources committee  I think in practical terms, it's an opportunity to have some leaders across the country, our provincial, regional or something, really rolling up their sleeves to make changes and recommendations within their regions that are going to make huge differences. I don't want to answ

Human Resources committee  We're doing that at our local level, for example, with the trades. We are bringing the trades into schools. They are doing some soft education and awareness, and getting kids excited about being in the trades, while at the same time they're understanding more about the sector.

Human Resources committee  We need a voice, a clear meaningful voice for indigenous people. We need to be sitting at the table—working, making recommendations, and taking the lead.