Finance committee  [Witness spoke in Innu-aimun] Thank you very much, Mr. Chair and distinguished members of the finance committee. I certainly want to acknowledge the Anishinabe nation, since we are their guest today on their unceded traditional territory. I’d like to start by thanking the com

Finance committee  Thank you very much for the question. The first thing I want to say on indigenous land stewardship is that it's key to understand that if there are no standards for indigenous traditional knowledge, then we're missing the point. We certainly agree with and are supportive of a na

Finance committee  Clearly, we cannot deny that some quite outstanding efforts have been made over the past five years. As mentioned earlier, attempts have been made to eliminate boil water advisories in some communities. There is still work to be done. I think everyone knows that. That said, I wa

Finance committee  That's the problem, we are floundering in social housing. We need another option: market housing. We are trying to move in that direction, but the problem then is the economic capacity of the communities. That is another aspect that merits consideration. Once again, very generall

Finance committee  In Quebec alone, it means 8,000 units that need immediate repair, and almost 4,000 units that need to be decontaminated. That is what happens when we wait. This also has to do with how precarious the program is. If, at the outset, the level of investment is insufficient to deal w

Finance committee  Thank you very much. I certainly want to express appreciation for this opportunity today to present the situation for our first nations in Quebec and Labrador in light of the government response to the pandemic. First of all, I want to acknowledge that all of us, no matter wher

Finance committee  Mr. Ste-Marie, thank you again for giving me the opportunity to answer this question. Clearly, our chiefs are also very concerned about the economic issue. A number of our nations and communities in Quebec depend on commercial fishing. The same thing goes for traditional harvest

Finance committee  It will be a matter of how far the government is willing to go to compensate for this economy.

Finance committee  I want to emphasize that the Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador fully supports the National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association, which is asking for $245 million to assist indigenous entrepreneurs across the country. This funding will help support hundreds of busin

Finance committee  We often say that this isn't really the time for jurisdictional disputes. I also want to add that it's important to know that we're on the second line in the regions. The people on the front line are our experts. I'm thinking of the nurses and social workers, but also of the chi

Finance committee  I guess it goes back to what we stated earlier, which was supported by my colleague. Definitely, in terms of resources, we're very limited and it really touches on the needs of families, children and women. In a situation like the one we all face, our foundations are very vulnera

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. My greetings to all the members of the standing committee. Thank you for this opportunity. We will be making our presentation in French. I would like to thank the members of the committee for inviting us to present a status report on the situat

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Okay. In terms of assessment, we consulted our chiefs and grand chiefs as well as the heads of our commissions and regional organizations in Quebec. It goes without saying that we have found that this exceptional context, by putting pressure on the public apparatus, brings out

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Indeed, there are two Innu communities in Labrador, Natuashish and Tshishe-shastshit, and nine Innu communities in Quebec. So we are on both sides of the border.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  There are 43 communities in total in Quebec and Labrador. Having said that, I am well aware, according to the most recent information I have received on the two Innu communities in Labrador, that the situation, as elsewhere in Quebec and in the country, is relatively under contro