Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  [Witness spoke in Cree] [English] I call on my father God to guide me. Thank you, Honourable Chair Bratina and members of the standing committee. I'm honoured to testify today on behalf of the Metis Settlements and the MSGC regarding our response to COVID-19 and its impacts o

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you very much, Heather. The Metis Settlements are under provincial legislation, so we're an ameliorative program. We need to move into our section 35 rights, and that's what we've been working on with Canada so we can move forward in getting that type of funding. Canada h

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  We've put forward a business case, Heather. No one has given us any guarantee that it will be successful. It hasn't gone forward really because of COVID. There's no federal budget there, so nobody can negotiate with us, and our communities are headed into insolvency if we don't g

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Again, we look for more capitalization for SIC to get our women into different kinds of businesses and further education. Our constituents, all of the people within our communities, are sorely lacking educational opportunities. If we look at the statistics available to us, you'll

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I could very easily. This impacts us in a multitude of ways. Because we can become partners in some of the exploration of oil and gas activity within the communities, we've done that, so we actually have money invested in the game. When we have to increase our industrial tax, the

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  It was when there was the sale of oil and gas. Now when there is no oil and gas and the land is what's called glacial till, where you can't farm or do anything but oil and gas activity, when there is nothing, then the absolute worst has happened. It's the perfect storm where all

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes, just that we were looking for the support of the committee with our $150-million ask. That's what we're looking for. Thank you.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I don't know if you remember, but we had a great hockey player come from Fishing Lake Métis Settlement, Sheldon Souray. We're part of the sports teams that are out there, but in our communities, we find there isn't enough designated money and set-aside money to ensure that each

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Our communities are busy every summer doing cultural camps. We have lots of people who are great artists, who are perfect dancers, and who sing so beautifully. We just need the chance to get them out there, and that's the problem. Healthy communities are required. You need money

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  We haven't had a lot of collaboration with the province on the plan itself. It's more of a paternalistic approach, to be very honest with you. That is, the act that was set out and that we deal with, the Metis Settlement Act in Alberta, is very paternalistic. The minister tells u

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  We've heard a little, but not a whole lot, to be honest. As I've said before, Heather, we're not part of MNC or MNA. I have had discussions with Audrey, the president of the MNA, to make sure there was no duplication of service so we could ensure that funds were spent appropriate

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes. We do have a local youth group. There's one in Fishing Lake that's called Red Sash. They are meeting and are talking about these issues. We had CBC doing a bit out there not long ago. I think it was a week ago that they came out and saw our people, and the youth were there a

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the standing committee, for the invitation to speak today on behalf of the Métis Settlements as part of your study on COVID-19 and its effect on indigenous communities. I am pleased to provide the committee with an update on the situation acros

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Sure I can. We had entered into a long-term agreement with the province to create some of the sustainability, but the real agreement with the province had to be around creating some businesses and trying to ensure that we were more economically viable and making the money ourse

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you very much. Three of those settlements happen to be in your riding, so you're quite familiar with them. We're spread across Alberta, mostly in northern Alberta. We have four in the western part of it and four more in the eastern component of it. There were 12 Métis sett