Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I would add that there is an extreme need to address the apathy that exists in this country regarding indigenous children and families. One of the ways that Cindy has been quite effective has been to try to raise the awareness of Canadians to these issues. We need to do an awful

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Certainly one of the shifts that need to be made, in my view, with respect to health services is a level of self-determination that can enable a broader perspective of health services, a more integrated approach. In my earlier comment, when I was making reference to a holistic a

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Perhaps the only thing I can add is that in my experience, when there are incidents of sexual abuse, the levels of trauma on not just the individuals involved but also the whole family system, and in fact in the community, are so substantial that they cannot be ignored. The behav

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Change the relationship. Change the relationship so it's not the “dominion over” relationship that has always existed between government and first nations people. That's something that is, to my mind, a very obvious shift that could be made that could lead to what you're describi

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Certainly in Alberta the friendship centres are active in communities in providing options for young people to have activities and for their families to gather. In many communities, when there's a tragedy and there are wakes, for example, they take place in the friendship centres

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I can certainly identify what happens in some communities now in terms of cultural events that bring people back. There's been a large migration in our province of indigenous people moving from rural and remote communities to urban communities, but because there are identified

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I can make a couple of comments about that. Certainly young people who come to the attention of child welfare authorities usually do so because they're at higher risk than the general population. Some of those risks have nothing to do with the circumstances of those children, o

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I don't have any specific ones at the moment, but I can certainly find them. One of the things I can say is that the work of Chris Lalonde has elevated some of those communities to become examples of where suicide concerns are at a very low level, and it is because these communit

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I can describe them as knowing who I am; knowing where I'm from; knowing what my values are, because they were instilled in me through generations and through extended family and my community; being a valued member of the community, having both rights and responsibilities; feelin

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you very much for the question. When we looked at the issue of community-led strategies in Alberta, where we found some encouragement was in the strategy to address homelessness. There was enough of a framework and enough resources to have some kind of goalpost, but there

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I guess I'm elected to start.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Good morning, Madam Chairperson and the committee. I would like to say I appreciate the opportunity to talk with you about suicide among indigenous peoples and communities. My name is Del Graff. I'm the child and youth advocate for the province of Alberta. I'm of Cree, Métis, a