Human Resources committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, members of the committee, thank you for having us here to talk to you today about an important issue for us from the health perspective. This issue has been a preoccupation of the Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services for many year

Human Resources committee  I can try. I wish my colleague were here.

Human Resources committee  You're right when you say that life expectancy in the north is still lower than it is in the south. We have to look at life expectancy being dependent on a lot of the issues facing our young children, because we still have a high mortality rate among children. We still have a lot

Human Resources committee  I don't know if I answered your questions. Certainly, right now one of our departments in the Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services, the flying services, has looked at the development of services specifically addressing elders. If you're interested, I can ask the

Human Resources committee  In the context of the consultation for the national housing strategy of the Government of Canada, the Institut national de santé publique du Québec has discussed our situation not only in Nunavik but also in regard to first nations. It's part of the written statement that I broug

Human Resources committee  The second aspect, I would say, is exactly that. There needs to be a series of measures that develop the community's capacity to facilitate a transition towards a model of full jurisdiction by Inuit over all housing issues.

Human Resources committee  Yes.

Human Resources committee  In support of this, I am not the expert, but I would refer to this brief. Because I was not—

Human Resources committee  We will deposit this brief, Mr. Chair.

Human Resources committee  It's a good question. Regarding food security, in the last two years, the Nunavik regional board has set up a working group on this issue with all the regional organizations. This working group is looking at the types of strategies we need to put in place as a region, but also

Human Resources committee  Did you want me to elaborate more?

Human Resources committee  As for food security, in accordance with our mandate as a working group, we have identified issues. Clearly one of them right now is the lack of access to country food. It's an issue because we know this is healthy food for our communities. So we're looking at all the strategies

Human Resources committee  Maybe as a follow-up, Mr. Chair, I could provide the committee with reports we have made. For example, we have a suicide prevention strategy that's recently been adopted by our regional board, and it is funded in part by the provincial government. We'll be happy to provide you wi

Human Resources committee  I wish my colleague were here. All I can talk to you about is my perspective as a halunak.

Human Resources committee  I don't think people want to go back to the way it was 100 or 150 years ago. That's not the reality of today. What they're looking for is an ability or capacity to marry the traditional life with the modern life of today. How do we achieve that? We have to give them the time. W