Remarks in Anishininiimowin. It’s a good day.

It’s always an honour to be able to get up and speak in this place and to speak about the issues in Kiiwetinoong. But Bill 166, Strengthening Accountability and Student Supports Act, 2024—one of the things that really jumped out at me is when we talk about the minister’s directive. It says: “The minister may, from time to time, issue directives to one or more colleges or universities described in subsection (1) in relation to the manner in which their policies and rules address and combat racism and hate, including but not limited to anti-Indigenous racism, anti-Black racism, anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.”

I know, just kind of going around who is speaking, it’s not the people that typically have to fight racism. It’s mostly non-Indigenous people, non-Black people that are speaking on this bill with regard to when we talk about racism. In order to address racism, you have to acknowledge that that exists, and I think it’s important to acknowledge and accept that settlers have always been placed where they are being racist. I live with racism every day. I see it. It’s water off the duck’s back, and sometimes I just don’t say anything when I hear it. I think it’s important to acknowledge that it certainly has an impact on racism. Racism is very—within different legislations within this government, it exists. I have some people coming in tomorrow, and they will speak about that.

But, Speaker, again, it’s an honour to be able to speak on Bill 166, again, on behalf of the people of Kiiwetinoong. We have to understand: Kiiwetinoong is a very unique riding. It’s about 70% First Nations people. There’s 31 First Nations and four small municipalities. When we talk about universities, we have no universities in Kiiwetinoong. We may have satellite sites of, perhaps, colleges. But also, there are a lot of issues in Kiiwetinoong when we talk about housing, when we talk about the non-existence of mental health.

I know this bill is trying to speak about the importance of student mental health and then safe and inclusive campuses and transparency. But, Speaker, we can always do more. We can make sure that students are getting the appropriate services that they need in Kiiwetinoong or when they come out to urban centres such as Thunder Bay, such as Toronto, anywhere in Ontario.

But we also need to make sure that Ontario is addressing the financial crisis that successive governments have created in our post-secondary sector. As you know, without adequate resources, it will have little impact on the support and services available to students.

As part of Canada’s journey—your journey—toward reconciliation with Indigenous people, educational institutions have been called on to increase the number of Indigenous students pursuing post-secondary education. For example, the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission note the need for more Indigenous health professionals as a way to improve the ability of the health care system to meet the health needs of Indigenous patients.

But we have to ask ourselves whether post-secondary institutions are meeting the needs of Indigenous students, and thus able to make good on these commitments, on the truth and reconciliation calls to action.

Also, research has shown that post-secondary students are a highly stressed population. In recent years, the mental health status of post-secondary students has been identified as an important determinant of student academic success. So in trying to improve educational outcomes, it is essential that we look at the root causes of poor student mental health. In order to do that, we need to improve the social determinants of health for students, particularly First Nations students, before they get to the post-secondary level, such as housing conditions, poverty, the loss of culture and the loss of language.

A study from 2015 found that Indigenous students attending Canadian post-secondary institutions are more likely to experience mental health issues—including a diagnosis of depression or anxiety, increased self-harm, suicidal ideation, suicide attempts and higher rates of binge drinking, marijuana and other substance use—compared to their non-Indigenous peers. There is a need for research regarding culturally appropriate services and supports within post-secondary academic settings to address the mental health needs of these students.

Although the available evidence suggests that the provision of mental health services by individuals with similar cultural backgrounds or in culturally supportive settings may improve access to mental health services and to be protective against mental health concerns, the capacity for and availability of such resources is not there.

When we talk about different education levels, we need to understand the traumas former education systems have caused the students. Even if there have been some improvements, Indigenous communities have always had their own education systems based on oral traditions, community and centring of the spiritual view of the world.

The continued imposition of Eurocentric education is just one example of how colonialism is ongoing. The core cause of the gaps in the educational attainment of Indigenous peoples is rooted in colonialism, and the historic and continued ways that the colonial education system has an agenda of assimilation and continues to predominantly centre Western ways of learning and Eurocentric content. The implications and traumas of colonialism in turn create barriers to education access and success. Western and Eurocentric education systems have been imposed in the name of assimilation: Indian residential schools. Social impacts: distrust, hostility because of history, including Indian residential schools, also, low self-esteem and self-worth, alienation, high suicide rates.

Geography continues to be a barrier, including for communities in the north, including Kiiwetinoong and Mushkegowuk–James Bay, with the costs of transportation and housing and the challenges of being away from support networks.

Most Indigenous students are women, and they face additional barriers with family responsibilities and daycares being inaccessible. Indigenous students face racism, overt and subconscious, in education and don’t have enough access to culturally appropriate supports.

I can say that there are even more barriers at the community level. I say that because it is difficult for areas where more poverty is experienced to access good educational resources and recruit and retain high-quality teachers. I was just up in KI just last week, and I saw that. That was the message I got from the community, the leadership of Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug.

A 2011 survey said that 31% of First Nations students attend provincial schools—especially high schools—off-reserve because of the lack of schools on-reserve. Today, this number has not changed. Sometimes I’ll see a post from people from down south each fall, each September, when their daughters, their sons leave for college. Meanwhile, in Kiiwetinoong, they’re posting that their grade 9 daughter, their grade 9 son is leaving for high school for the whole year.

Indigenous education faces inequalities in funding, especially in areas considered rural and remote. Federal programs in education for First Nations communities are insufficient, capping funding increases at 2% for decades and not accounting for the other needs, including libraries, sports and technology.

CBC reported in 2016 that the Post-Secondary Student Support Program has seen an 18.3% decline in the number of students it funds since 1997. What exactly you see there in that report is exactly how racism, colonialism and oppression work, because we’re not supposed to attend school.

We need to be able to address root causes. Indigenous communities and leadership have to have jurisdiction over education of future generations. We need to reject and reverse colonial education systems and re-Indigenize Indigenous children’s learning curriculums. That’s how you combat anti-Indigenous racism—not just a line where you provide a minister’s directive.

We need to change educational curriculums for Indigenous students so that their education includes learning their languages, traditional knowledge and cultural values.

We need to bring parents and community, elders and women into the process of educating our young people to support their learning and identities, to build strong communities.

Funding for educational opportunities for children can no longer be inequitable. Our government and the federal government need to invest more in education and eliminate the inequality of funding. This means multi-year and long-term funding that actually addresses the needs of our communities, both in education and infrastructure and in our social determinants of health and other challenges our communities are facing.

We need to reduce poverty and the cost of food and housing.

For post-secondary institutions, more universities and colleges need to follow in the footsteps of those that have made Indigenous studies mandatory for all students, including Lakehead University, including Trent University.

We need to think of and invest in innovative learning models to offer experiential learning opportunities to Indigenous students. It’s not in Ontario, but the University of Northern British Columbia offers courses like First Nations cultural heritage through moose-hide tanning and Dakélh studies dugout cottonwood canoe courses.

We also need to increase partnerships that can allow colleges and universities to provide more courses and degree opportunities for northern communities.

Ontario should be funding research to explore why First Nations students face such a high level of mental health and substance abuse issues at post-secondary institutions. This research can help us identify strategies for promoting mental health and wellness and improving the treatment of mental health and substance use issues of Indigenous post-secondary students. Such research should specifically explore the implementation and impact of recent efforts to create Indigenous spaces, cultural supports and increased awareness of Indigenous issues among students and faculties across Ontario campuses.

Speaker, we need to make sure our learners have all the supports that they need. Meegwetch.