Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Nothing at this point in time from the federal government when it comes to the housing component.... This has actually been the first move that we've heard of anything to deal with it. We did deal with infrastructure a little earlier, but again, that really didn't fall under the

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Sure. The Métis National Council and the Métis Nation of Alberta have never devolved money to the Metis Settlements General Council. They go there to Ottawa. They say they speak on our behalf, even though we've never given up that ability. We say we're autonomous unto ourselves.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of this committee, for the invitation to speak today. My name's Herb Lehr. I'm the elected president of the Metis Settlements General Council, MSGC. I think it's critical for all of you to understand that the Métis settlements are unique [Technic

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  It's going to be devastating. We have censuses that we do, similar to the Métis nations across Canada. They don't get concise data, because Statistics Canada isn't set up properly to be able to do those proper queries. In our cases, they use the postal codes. Our people get mail

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you very much for that question. I feel like the proverbial football that has been talked about in the Daniels case. We're still being tossed back and forth, and the honour of the Crown creates all these problems under section 91 versus section 92. Our problem, as the

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I'm very happy that the Métis nation and MNC have been consulted on these issues. However, as non-affiliates, there has been no discussion with us on this type of stuff, and we have received zero funding, ever, from the Métis National Council or from the Métis Nation of Alberta.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I'm sorry; who was she asking?

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I sure can, and thank you very much. The community that he's referring to is called Paddle Prairie Métis Settlement. It's the largest settlement that we have. It's 16 townships of land, around 600 square miles. It had a fire that came onto it called the Chuckegg Creek fire. I m

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

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  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  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  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