Hon. David Lametti, P.C., M.P., Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada: Thank you, senator. I mentioned a moment ago that every mandate letter for every minister contained a clause on reconciliation. The other mandatory clause has been climate. Everything that all of us do is filtered through the lens of fighting climate change and protecting our environment. You’ve asked a very complex question, which I can’t possibly answer in a minute and a half because of its complexity, and it touches not just what I do but what all of us do here as well.

We are trying on multiple fronts to fight climate change. We have put a price on pollution as one element of a climate change policy, but it will also involve an economic transformation. In a positive sense, there is a new green economy that Canada is uniquely positioned to lead on, and sometimes we have to go to court to defend that vision, which we have done successfully and which we will continue to do successfully. I take a strong hand as Attorney General in the way those cases devolve.

But we will continue. And it requires working with Indigenous peoples; it requires working with business; it requires working with community groups; and it requires working with municipalities, provinces and territories. It’s complex and it touches the work that all of us do, but we don’t have any options.

Hon. Brent Cotter: Good afternoon, Minister Lametti, and welcome back. We have a whole-of-government commitment to reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, centred around the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, or UNDRIP, and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action, but we do not have an obvious whole-of-government strategy to achieve its goals.

I have some acquaintance with such an approach in one of my former lives, specifically a multi-year strategy with commitments, targets, achievements and reporting required from all of the key government departments aimed at First Nations citizens, for example. In your department, for example, strategies and actions could relate to specific levels of reduced offending, lower incarceration rates, lower recidivism, maybe 5% a year. They could also relate to health measures, education, economic opportunities and jobs. I could go on.

Can I ask whether you and our government are committed to this sort of accountable, all-of-government approach?

Hon. David Lametti, P.C., M.P., Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada: It’s a fantastic question. Thank you. I believe we are doing that in the manner in which you are suggesting. Perhaps not explicitly in one document, although I would point you to every single mandate letter from every single minister, which puts reconciliation as a goal that every single minister and every single department has. It forces us to work together. It forces us to work with Indigenous leadership across Canada at a variety of levels, not just the national organizations but First Nations and regional organizations, modern treaties, pre-Confederation treaties, et cetera. We are doing it, and we are accountable in terms of ministers being accountable through their mandate letters, which are made public.

I agree that we do need to coordinate. We’re trying to break down barriers. I work closely with Ministers Miller, Hajdu, Vandal and Mendicino on all of these matters, and I work closely with Indigenous leadership. Certainly, more coordination and more of a sense that there is a common purpose are always desirable.

Hon. Brian Francis: CBC News reported that few federal public servants are taking part in the Indigenous-related training offered through the Canada School of Public Service, or CSPS. In 2021 only 16% took part in the training with the highest attendance, and the RCMP had some of the lowest number of participants. Following September 30, we cannot forget that the federal public service helped design, implement and maintain the residential schools and other harmful initiatives. Given your government’s stated commitment to reconciliation, I find it disappointing and concerning that the development of competencies for improved sensitivity and responsiveness to Indigenous peoples is not already a requirement.

Will you commit to supporting a government-wide directive to make ongoing training related to Indigenous peoples mandatory for all federal public servants as soon as possible?