Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Absolutely. Economic recovery is certainly a priority for First Nations, but it raises many concerns. One concern is the fear that Indigenous interests are not being adequately addressed in government economic recovery plans. This can be seen currently in Quebec's Bill 61. Just

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  That is a good question. What we learned from the February railway crisis is how complex it is to reconcile the interests of economic development with the Indigenous rights of First Nations over their unceded traditional lands. We are seeing the same in the current crisis. As yo

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you, that is very kind of you, Mr. Viersen. My third example concerns a nation located in the Gaspé Peninsula. It is the La Nation Micmac de Gespeg, whose members do not live on a reserve, much like the members of the Long Point Nation. Members live primarily on the uncede

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Okay.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I am going to skip a part. My third example concerns La Nation Micmac de Gespeg, which is not a reserve either. Because of that, the community does not receive emergency government support, which is available to all other First Nations. Before the COVID-19 crisis and the railwa

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  As I was saying, there is a major difference between what Indigenous communities are doing and what non-Indigenous communities are doing. There is the issue of health, of course. In addition, the number of people per dwelling in Indigenous communities is much higher than in non-I

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Good afternoon and thank you for inviting me to appear before the committee, which is doing very important work. When I look at how the handling of the COVID-19 crisis is being experienced in Indigenous communities, one thing stands out for me: the marked difference between the

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  As I said earlier, the policy is outdated. In any event, everyone acknowledges this. The current policy dates back to 1987, if I'm not mistaken. The policy is ineffective and it doesn't help achieve the objectives. Basically, the reason is that the federal government is both judg

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  This type of crisis is very likely to happen again, absolutely. As I was saying, large territories are still unceded by various nations. In Quebec alone, most first nations haven't signed a treaty with the Crown, so they're still in the process of making land claims. On these te

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  In short, it would be a bad idea to involve the police or to use force on indigenous territories. It wouldn't be the solution or the way to resolve conflict because it would lead to more conflict and animosity. It would also create conflict between non-indigenous Canadians and in

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  We must indeed learn from this crisis to prevent it from happening again. As I said earlier, if the fundamental issues surrounding the land rights and governance of first nations and nations aren't resolved, this type of crisis could happen again, although it may take other form

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you for allowing me to testify, even though I couldn't appear in person. I am currently in the community of the Uashat mak Mani-Utenam Nation on the North Shore of Quebec. Long live technology! I'm not going to go back over the facts of the indigeno