Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I want to say one thing really quickly. The membership of first nations is already defined and independent of Canada. First nations make their own membership as it stands right now. We're talking about the citizenship recognized by Canada and the way it was structured. The impact on the nation is not necessarily of its own making.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  No.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Because the government picks and chooses what it wants to consult on. It doesn't have a standard for how exactly to consult. When you're talking nation to nation, you should probably consult on a lot of things. Every piece of legislation that goes through should have the approval of first nations, if we really want to talk about nation to nation.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  They don't build trust, that's for sure. I think anybody who understands diplomacy and creating relationships and genuine partnerships knows you have to have consistency to have trust.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I think that's where the government likes to operate: in the grey area and the vagueness of what consultation means.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes. It bureaucratizes families and the relationship dynamics of the family. I don't think the government should have any business in households like that between families and between nations.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  [Witness spoke in Ojibwa] [English] Good morning. I thank our Creator for a beautiful day. I want to thank the chair and members of the committee for their time today. My name is Jerry Daniels. I'm the Grand Chief for the Southern Chiefs' Organization, representing 33 Anishinabe and Dakota nations that have more than 92,000 citizens across southern Manitoba.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I would say that you transfer jurisdiction, allowing first nations to make the decisions and find alternative ways to create and maximize the use of that funding.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I wouldn't go down that route, simply because you're sort of trying to put a brown face on a system that is failing already. I think it needs to be controlled by first nations leaders and first nations experts. I think that's really the only way. We will have our elders with us the whole way.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I think that's the only solution at this point. The reason is that the life expectancy gap is not changing right now. It's not changing in its trajectory. It's actually getting worse. We need to be innovative in utilizing the very limited health resources that are already allocated and trying to add value to that.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  You'd have to go outside of Canada. Let's look at Alaska, where they're running the whole system over there with the school. I think that has been the best example for us. We went there. We saw it. We saw a patient-focused model that's about the patient. It's fulsome. It's not simply a doctor.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Obviously, the navigator has done a lot of advocacy and navigation, within the NIHB, trying to find solutions to some of the problems our citizens are facing. It's been a tremendous help, I think, in connecting the dots and providing support for many of our citizens. It is one position in a system of hundreds of thousands, in many instances.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Absolutely. What's going on is huge in terms of what the additional costs are. Food security is a huge problem that's going on and a concern. Even our nurses have been restricted from the north, except in emergencies only, as a result of the high need for nurses in the urban areas.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  It's quite simple, actually. If you're not healthy, you can't help people. You have to have a great deal of the mental capacity to provide direction and knowledge, and to transfer that knowledge on how to live healthy and to participate in activities in the community that are healthy.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  There's also a loss of the enrichment of that knowledge in creating a better health system, not only for indigenous people but for all.