Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes. ITK does not object to the term “Constitution” being in the oath. The only reason why ITK put.... Its position in its amendment there was to ensure that each group in this country—first nations, Inuit and Métis—was included within the citizenship oath text. That's why “const

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I can start. This bill is, I guess, indicative of where we are on a number of the different calls to action. It has been hit-and-miss with regard to the way in which the federal government has chosen to respond to many calls to action. The Government of Canada and the ministers r

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Nakurmiik. Thank you, Mr. Chair. It's good to see all of you via Zoom, as always. I'm the president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the national representational organization for Canada's 65,000 Inuit. I can remember first meeting with the minister responsible, the Minister of Imm

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  No matter what, a healthy diet, a health lifestyle and healthy food choices are subjective. Inuit society and Inuit communities might have a very specific idea about what healthy foods fit within an Inuit-specific diet. If there are tens of millions of dollars every year earmarke

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  First, my apologies for the microphone issue. I pledge to figure this out on my end for the next time I'm in front of you. In regard to food security, this is completely interrelated with poverty. It's also completely interrelated with government programs and policies. I urge

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  ITK recently released a report that we partnered with Deloitte on. It's in regard to our infrastructure needs and also to specific priority projects for infrastructure across Inuit Nunangat. It isn't specifically in relation to food security, but a number of the challenges that w

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes. In the last couple of years, we've had a number of different breakthroughs. The harvesters support grant within the nutrition north Canada program will allow for regional Inuit organizations to work with communities to design food security interventions that allow for more t

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  At the ITK level, we have partnerships with our regional land claim organizations: Nunavut Tunngavik, Makivik Corporation, Inuvialuit Regional Corporation and the Nunatsiavut government. We work together to create our national policies and our national priorities. We actually are

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Food security is tied so much to education, to housing and to health. It also ties into culture and to knowledge, and passing knowledge from generation to generation. With over 50% overcrowding in our homes, combined with the poverty levels and food insecurity levels that we hav

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I think the key consideration in the change from the food mail program to nutrition north was to let the markets decide pricing. Competition was meant to replace the single Canada Post subsidy for freight. Our communities are quite small. There usually are only two or three reta

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes, thank you. The cost of pursuing traditional livelihoods and providing food for our families in a very traditional way is expensive. We use Ski-Doos. We use boats in the summer. There are tremendous costs for gas and other supplies to hunt. In the COVID response, especiall

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes. I'll start by giving an example. Our median income, Inuit median income in Inuit Nunangat, is $23,000. For non-Inuit living in Inuit Nunangat, that number is in excess of $95,000. There's huge disparity between Inuit and non-Inuit within every one of our communities, yet t

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes, thank you. I have a couple of key recommendations. One is in regard to northern airlines and the qualification of northern airlines as an essential service, and making that terminology, “essential service”, have some terms and conditions associated with it. Also, about the

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I think there are ongoing challenges from a regulatory perspective. When we are able to harvest more food and when we are able to provide for our families, that doesn't necessarily always extend to long-term support homes or educational institutions where there are regulations, w

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I'll start by saying that the nutrition north program and its predecessor, the food mail program, are both welcome subsidy programs for Inuit Nunangat and other parts of Canada's north, which are more expensive to operate in. Non-perishable food items cost more, in large part be