Hon. Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu: Welcome, minister. As you know, on June 3, we marked the third anniversary of the final report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. Despite your government’s pledge to end violence against Indigenous women and girls, groups like the Native Women’s Association of Canada have described your government’s actions on this front as “weak.”

In fact, the association’s CEO, Lynne Groulx, said your government’s national action plan was a recipe for inaction. Moreover, after the government consulted the association about that plan, Ms. Groulx called the process “fundamentally flawed” and politically motivated.

How many of the national inquiry’s 231 calls to action has the government responded to so far? What do you have to say to the front-line workers who say they desperately need less talk and more action from the government?

Hon. Marc Miller, P.C., M.P., Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations: I’m sure we all agree that this problem will unfortunately not be solved overnight. Remember how the government was criticized for developing the plan, with people suggesting that no money would be attached to an action plan. Quite the opposite is true. At least $2.2 billion has been allocated under this plan, and these funds have been distributed across the country among 25 government agencies and departments.

It is clear that, because of the systemic problems and the 231 calls for action in the final report of the national inquiry, we need to see some results, which are long overdue. This is not to say that nothing has been done. Consider, for example, the commitments that have been made to support safe housing for women in abusive situations and their children. Several federal government investments have already been announced. I have personally seen some of the housing that has been built. The investments in housing that have been made, particularly in the last two budgets, are part of the government’s goal to get these women and children out of these abusive situations.

Of course, any systemic response requires responses from all governments, not only the federal government, but also provincial and territorial governments and municipalities. That said, the federal government needs to show leadership, and we are doing just that. Since the pandemic, the number of women experiencing violence has also increased, as we have seen in Quebec in particular. It’s a challenge, but we have to meet that challenge.

[English]

Hon. Kim Pate: Welcome, minister. Minister, I’m picking up on questions from some of my colleagues. The tragedies that unfolded at the James Smith Cree Nation have led to a number of Indigenous leaders, including the chief and others, to call for resources to be put in place in the community. You mentioned some of that. In particular, there is a call for greater autonomy, sovereignty and self-determination. That’s obviously key to ensuring that communities have the supports they need to address long-standing and systemic issues that continue to unfold and help create some of the travesties.

They also raised the fact that many in their communities have experienced not just the marginalization and victimization, but also the criminalization and incarceration that other colleagues have spoken about.

In light of this information, what specific actions are you and your government looking at taking to address these issues to ensure that the needs and demands of the survivors are met?

Hon. Marc Miller, P.C., M.P., Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations: Thank you, senator. As you know, the business is closed, to my knowledge, and is no longer accepting the illegal dumping of waste.

This issue involves several jurisdictions. We have to add the Indigenous jurisdiction to that of Quebec. There are a lot of responsibilities to share in all this, between the federal and provincial governments, and the community itself also has a role to play. I’ve had many delicate discussions that will remain confidential with the band council and the Government of Quebec. However, with the provincial election, these discussions with the Government of Quebec have been suspended.

This situation is quite distressing to the people who live in the region, especially the people of Kanesatake.

[English]

Hon. Marc Miller, P.C., M.P., Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations: Thank you, senator. Certainly, service standards have trailed particularly during the pandemic as people were working from home. At times applications have to be done by hand, particularly with paper documentation.

The service standard varies. If it’s a renewal, the service standard is only a few weeks and shouldn’t take that much time. If it is a new application, or an application under Bill S-3, it’s something that can take a little more time, and often an unacceptable period of time.

We have allocated a number of resources to increase and prioritize the processing of applications, particularly when it is for people who need immediate care that depends on the issuance of a status card. This is work that Minister Hajdu is doing with her team in Indigenous Services Canada to make sure that, in particular, the site at Winnipeg is running in a way that is up to the standard that we would like to see things happen.

Again, this is a highly volatile turnaround time, depending on the type of application. I could admit to you quite freely that throughout the pandemic things have, yes, slowed down.

Hon. Marc Miller, P.C., M.P., Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations: Certainly, senator, it’s immensely frustrating to see these original pieces of art being reproduced, and correspondingly undervalued. Currently there is not a ton of initiatives that are being undertaken to address this, and it’s unfortunate. It’s not something that has been prevalent in the last few years, although it was occurring long before a couple of years ago. Particularly with the increased interest in Indigenous culture, there is a market that is being created. You only have to go to a downtown Montreal tourist shop to see a lot of fakes.

It’s work that we have to engage with the provinces on for jurisdictional reasons. Creating a Criminal Code provision would probably be fraught with a number of problems, and, obviously, there are undoubtedly copyright or passing-off laws that could be, with difficulty, applied. It isn’t something where there is a comprehensive approach across governments to address in a comprehensive fashion.

I appreciate you highlighting that, and it’s something that, perhaps, can be tackled in the coming years with proper community consultation.

Hon. Judith G. Seidman: Welcome, minister. Yesterday we learned from Statistics Canada that in 2021 over 17% of Indigenous people lived in crowded housing that was considered not suitable for the number of people who lived there. Furthermore, one in six lived in a dwelling that was in need of major repairs.

I think you would agree that these numbers are very concerning. It is a well-known fact that poor housing is connected to major health issues, mental health problems and higher rates of suicide, besides the violence that you spoke of earlier.

I understand that Budget 2022 proposes to provide $4.3 billion over seven years towards improving and expanding Indigenous housing in Canada.

Minister, what can you say to reassure Indigenous families that your government will deliver on its commitments and begin to alleviate the housing crisis in Indigenous communities?

Hon. Marc Miller, P.C., M.P., Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations: Thank you, senator. I would add tuberculosis, consistent with the prior discussion.

We have made a number of investments since 2015 in Indigenous communities — $400 million specifically in Nunavut — in housing.

We know it’s not enough. Budget 2021 had several billion dollars in infrastructure, which included, in some cases, housing, as well as the Rapid Housing Initiative that has been put forward successfully throughout the pandemic.

When I spoke to communities that were going through a COVID outbreak, sometimes their number one discussion point with me wasn’t COVID. It was actually housing. It’s prevalent everywhere.

It is not entirely measured. We don’t know exactly what the funding deficit is. We have a sense of it. There is a lot of work that Minister Hajdu is putting into it, actually quantifying it, going on the principle that you cannot mend what you cannot measure.

What it will require, simply — and with difficulty as well knowing budget cycles — is consistent investments into housing properly targeted into Indigenous communities and administered in the right way, which is in the spirit of self-determination. In the last budget, there was approximately $800 million that went specifically into Inuit Nunangat for the next few years. We know that will not be enough to close the gap, but it will make a significant dent in the housing shortage that exists across Indigenous communities.

Obviously, it is uneven. Not every community is the same, but it is one where we will have to be relentless. Any government that purports to run this country needs to be relentless in pursuing this.

[Translation]

Hon. Marc Miller, P.C., M.P., Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations: It will be about monitoring, independence and accountability, all led by eminent leaders in the Indigenous community, such as Willie Littlechild, Rosemary Cooper, Édith Cloutier and Mike DeGagné, who are all well known across Canada.

The objective is obviously to inform the government on where we stand with the 94 Calls to Action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. This bill was introduced in response to the Calls to Action themselves, including 53 to 56, which call on the government to create an independent, non-political organization that is funded and monitors progress made by the Government of Canada and the other institutions that have been called to action.

This will break the government’s annoying habit of saying that it is responding to a certain number of Calls to Action without having the claim be corroborated and verified independently, in particular by Indigenous people.

We have responded to a lot of Calls to Action and continue to do so, but we need a well-funded independent organization, regardless of what kind of government is in place. It goes without saying that this bill is a priority for this government. I hope that the Senate will pass it. I look forward to your feedback, because there may be some aspects that need to be polished. This bill is very important to reconciliation and to the independence of the process.

Hon. Marc Miller, P.C., M.P., Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations: It’s not my place to have a public opinion on how the AFN operates, since it’s a major national Indigenous organization that helps ensure that the people who sit on it are well served by the Government of Canada. It has a very strong voice, representing many Indigenous voices across Canada.

If there are problems within the organization, I won’t comment publicly on that. This organization, like all others, has internal accountability processes. I’m not blind to the challenges that exist between the national leader and the executive, which is also duly elected. I must remain impartial, both publicly and privately, about this internal process. Of course, these things are alleged and have yet to be proven. As you know, there’s only one way to know the truth.

[English]

Hon. Marc Miller, P.C., M.P., Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations: Clearly, when we talk about health transformation in Indigenous communities, addressing specifically fetal alcohol syndrome is one that Indigenous communities have been advocating for for a long, long time. This is something that goes through a number of the elements and a number of the reforms that Minister Hajdu is tasked with, particularly introducing health-based legislation that is distinctions-based, to allow communities to deal with what is specific to them and what plagues them, in developing and addressing the devastating effects of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder which, in turn, to refer to the conversation we had before, fuel incarceration rates.

This is not something that you can sort out with a single bill introduced in Parliament. It’s something that requires that health transformation which is yet to be effected. For that, we need provincial buy-in as well, in addressing these from a harms-based perspective, not waving books at people when they show up at a medical institution for help. It deals with a lot of the issues around systemic racism in the health care system.

These are elements that the Government of Canada cannot tackle alone. It’s something that will need the full participation of provinces and territories. I do thank you for asking the question.

Hon. Marc Miller, P.C., M.P., Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations: Thank you, senator. It’s an exceedingly important question, a difficult question to ask in the midst of the various fairness hearings. One hearing is occurring now in front of the CHRT, for which the court has reserved judgment for a couple of weeks. As well, the corresponding Federal Court decision will come out. I think it would be undue in terms of process for me to speak as to the different legal arguments that exist.

I would note that both Minister Hajdu and I wrote a letter to Dr. Blackstock, and I believe it’s public that we would ensure that every First Nations child who has been removed would get a minimum of $40,000.

Our challenge has always been a global one, which is addressing the spectrum of harm that occurred all the way back to the 1990s that the CHRT does not deal with. We’re dealing with three class actions with the CHRT where we’re trying to make sure every complainant is dealt with in an equitable fashion and come to a deal with rights holders, making sure that those who were entitled to even more than $40,000 would actually get that.

The CHRT order could only give as much as $40,000. We’re dealing with people who have suffered harm where the amount could go into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. This is a matter of fairness for people. In some cases, what we have proposed will actually ensure that the people who were hurt the most will get more than the CHRT could ever order.

Those are arguments that are currently in front of the court, so I will exercise a touch of reserve in speaking more about it.

[Translation]

Hon. Jean-Guy Dagenais: Minister, on June 7, 2022, at a meeting of the Standing Senate Committee on National Finance, of which I am a member, I asked one of the senior officials from Indigenous Services Canada about the use of a $2.1-billion allocation for families and children under Jordan’s Principle. Philippe Thompson revealed at the time that your government had begun negotiations to award a contract to a third party to administer our tax dollars which have been allocated to Indigenous communities, but he refused to tell us who these negotiations were with.

As the minister responsible, can you tell us to whom this contract has been awarded or to whom it will be awarded? How much will it cost Canadians to have a third party administer this $2.1 billion? Finally, could you tell us what percentage of that money will go to these unnamed administrators rather than to Indigenous children?

Hon. Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition): Minister, would you be able to provide us with a list of all the Indigenous organizations that you have consulted with on Bill C-11, as per your obligations under UNDRIP, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples? I don’t care whether they were at a committee or not. Would you undertake to send us a list of all Indigenous organizations that you consulted with before tabling this bill?

Hon. Marc Miller, P.C., M.P., Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations: Are you talking, senator, about Bill-C15?