Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee on Nov. 17th, 2020

[Gary Vidal, Conservative, Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK]

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I wasn't trying to be obstinate. I was just trying to figure out how to keep track and keep these things straight.

I want to thank our witnesses. It's unfortunate that we lost Ms. Bull, but that's fine. My first question will be for Mr. Metatawabin.

You spoke about the delayed experience of many indigenous businesses in terms of accessing some of the supports for business over the last several months and feeling, to use Ms. Bull's word, a bit like an “afterthought”. We have heard that from other organizations at different times. Could you maybe take a minute and expand a little further on the impact these delays have had? What are you hearing from the many AFIs you communicate with and work with every day on the impact on their business partners on the ground? We're not talking about the big level but about the stories right on the ground of these businesses and what impact the delays have had on them.

[Shannin Metatawabin]

This is an important subject. Our AFIs had a survey done right after the pandemic hit, within the first week, and 95% said our businesses were going to be impacted. We were actively trying to plan with government to ensure that we had supports in place for them. Fortunately, for the businesses that identified that they wouldn't last more than six months, with some support we've gone beyond that timeline. I'm glad we're getting support out to the indigenous businesses. Early on, I think all of the indigenous businesses that were eligible for the Canada response were able to access it. When they needed more money, they weren't permitted to access our program, because you can't stack it.

All of these mechanisms should be removed to ensure flexibility, so that we can respond to the business needs of today and take us to at least until the end of the government fiscal year. By that time we will have a new survey. We'll know what additional supports will take us to the summer or into next fall. We still don't have certainty on the vaccine or when we're going to get back to business, but we still need to be part of that conversation so that the government knows, step in step with timing, what is required in our community.

[Gary Vidal, Conservative, Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK]

Thank you for that.

I will really shift gears for a minute and ask both witnesses to take a shot at answering this question.

Drinking water advisories have been a really big topic and have created many headlines during the pandemic. I know that all of my colleagues will agree that it's unacceptable that any Canadian would be without safe and reliable drinking water during a pandemic. As an example, in my riding this morning a state of emergency was declared in a first nation that lost its drinking water in the midst of the outbreak that's starting to happen in their communities.

From a business perspective, which is where I want you to plug in here, I believe there's a huge opportunity for the indigenous economy, for indigenous businesses, to be part of the solution to this across the country. I'm curious to know whether either of you are aware of or could share some stories or experiences of where consultation has happened between the government and indigenous businesses that might have been an attempt or could be part of contributing to the solution on the drinking water advisories.

[Shannin Metatawabin]

Drinking water is integral to human life. The government has responded to this emergency, this pandemic, with billions and billions of support for Canadians all across the country, but that same support is not afforded to indigenous people when we can't even get drinking water. This has been a problem for decades.

The example of what the Prime Minister has done for the pandemic should be the example of what he does for boiled water. This is the starting point of a community that needs drinking water to ensure that they have the right infrastructure. Then they can start thinking about the future and contributing to the economy.

[Raymond Wanuch]

I used to be on the Alberta Water Advisory Committee, and Premier Lougheed was on there. He used to talk about interbasin water transfer. It was specific to Alberta because 90% of the population lived south of Calgary, and most of the indigenous population lived north of Edmonton. Where was that fresh water going to come from? Well, it was going to come from northern Alberta. There were a lot of people who weren't very happy with that suggestion.

I think it is about trying to be innovative. It's like I said with Edmonton and Enoch Cree Nation. Although their traditional territory was adjacent to the North Saskatchewan River, last year Enoch Cree Nation finally had water into their community from the North Saskatchewan River—after all these years.

Yes, it's a huge requirement. I referenced Blood Tribe. They're looking at getting into business, but the glacier that feeds the Oldman River may be gone in 30 years. It doesn't only impact non-indigenous farmers down in that country. It impacts the Blood Tribe that has a big irrigation project. They want their percentages as well. All the—

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

I'm sorry. We're really over time on that. It's a great topic [Technical difficulty—Editor].

[Pam Damoff, Liberal, Oakville North—Burlington, ON]

I think our chair is frozen. It's the quietest he's been forever.

[Gary Vidal, Conservative, Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK]

Is this where I take over the chair now?

[Pam Damoff, Liberal, Oakville North—Burlington, ON]

Yes, you do, Gary.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Cathy McLeod]

Actually, I think as vice-chair, I can adjourn.

Thank you to the witnesses. It was excellent.

The meeting is adjourned.