Health committee  It's really early on and it took quite a bit of time to get all of the ins and outs of it to the province and to that department at the university. We've partnered with the university on multiple research projects and we realize that, if we can do this and do it really well, we'll be able to use it across the country because we have 133 head start sites spread out across this country.

Health committee  We don't here, specifically. One of the things that we did do was that we partnered with Horizon Health. We now have a nurse practitioner who comes to us and is available to many of our folks who come to the friendship centre. That was a big help for us. We noticed that most of the time it's moms with young children who are going to her.

Health committee  After-school programming and anything to do with education. Our kids have to go to mainstream schools. I don't know what it's like across the country in other places, but here, the highest level you can go to in community is grade 6—there may be one or two first nation communities that have grade 8—and then they're going into mainstream school.

Health committee  That's a great question. One of the things we're doing here is land-based learning. We developed a nationally renowned program called “Take It Outside”. It's a way of getting our children back out onto the land. It's not just a matter of taking them out on the playground. We take them to an old-growth forest with very natural environments, and it's also a great way for us to teach them their language in that environment.

Health committee  Absolutely. We know it's part of wellness, especially for indigenous people. The loss of our language has impacted our entire family for generations, so we know this. There's a whole body of research out there on mother tongue languages and how important those are for children developmentally.

Health committee  Sure. Absolutely. We know that children's health isn't based just on the medical system. I'm sitting here with a group of medical professionals, which is amazing. What we also try to do as a friendship centre is to come in upstream so that we're providing programs and services before these children end up unwell.

Health committee  Good afternoon, committee. My name is Patsy McKinney. I am the executive director of Under One Sky Friendship Centre in Fredericton. I want to recognize that I am joining you today from the unsurrendered, unceded traditional lands of the Wolastoqiyik in Fredericton. I want to thank you for the invitation to appear before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health today.