Proceedings of the Standing Senate Committee on
Aboriginal Peoples
Issue 56 - Evidence - June 5, 2019
OTTAWA, Wednesday, June 5, 2019
The Standing Senate Committee on Aboriginal Peoples met this day at 12:33 p.m. to study the federal government’s constitutional, treaty, political and legal responsibilities to First Nations, Inuit and Metis peoples (Indigenize the Senate 2019).
Senator Lillian Eva Dyck (Chair) in the chair.
[English]
The Chair: Good afternoon, tansi. I would like to welcome all honourable senators and members of the public who are watching this had meeting of the Standing Senate Committee on Aboriginal Peoples either here in the room or listening via the Web.
I would like to acknowledge for the sake of reconciliation that we are meeting on the traditional unsurrendered lands of the Algonquin peoples. My name is Lillian Dyck, from the George Gordon First Nation in Saskatchewan, and I have the honour and privilege of being the chair of this committee.
Today, we meet on our study on the federal government’s constitutional, treaty, political and legal responsibilities to the First Nations, Inuit and Metis peoples. Before we begin, I would like my fellow senators to introduce themselves.
Senator Doyle: Norman Doyle, Newfoundland and Labrador.
Senator Tannas: Scott Tannas, Alberta.
Senator Klyne: Marty Klyne, Saskatchewan.
Senator Francis: Brian Francis, Abegweit First Nation from Prince Edward Island.
Senator Coyle: Mary Coyle, Nova Scotia.
Senator Lovelace Nicholas: Sandra Lovelace Nicholas, New Brunswick.
Senator LaBoucane-Benson: Patti LaBoucane-Benson, Treaty 6 territory, Alberta.
The Chair: Thank you, senators.
This afternoon we are very happy to host our fourth annual Youth Indigenize the Senate event. We have eight youths from across the country who have been participating in activities and workshops all morning. These young leaders have a variety of backgrounds and experiences and we are pleased to have them appear before us today as witnesses. Each youth will have a few minutes to present, followed by a question or two from senators. We have 10 minutes for each witness, so I’ll ask senators to keep their questions brief and to the point.
Before we begin, I would like to ask members if it is agreed that Senate Communications be allowed to take photographs and film during this meeting. Is it agreed?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: Thank you, senators. The motion is carried.
We will begin by welcoming Trevor Dubois. Trevor, the floor is yours.
Trevor Dubois, as an individual: I’d like to thank the senators for providing the youth the opportunity to participate in Youth Indigenize the Senate and acknowledge that we are on the unceded territory of the Algonquin people.
The thing that matters to me the most is working on addressing and creating the necessary supports, tools and resources required for every community, nation and people to flourish where the community is a place where everyone has equal opportunity and ensures First Nations, Inuit and Metis have control in regards to their own Indigenous affairs. This includes providing adequate funding in areas including in health, social services, youth and justice, and in being able to guide and create supports that are guided in the most transparent and accountable means of governance possible while using a holistic approach when addressing Indigenous ideologies.
Being a two-spirit individual has been a barrier for me growing up. The lack of support, services and programs that address the issues we face resulted in my experiencing riskier life choices. It was working as a youth outreach worker and attaining my degree in Indigenous social work where I was able to realize the positive benefits that programs and services have on Indigenous peoples. It is my hope that other two-spirit people are provided the same opportunity and protected under the same laws many Canadians take for granted. In my current position I’m able to now create programs and services for these people within our community, as I oversee 16 communities, the largest region within the Metis nation and one of the largest within Western Canada.
The Métis Nation—Saskatchewan is a good learning opportunity for myself, as I can see the transformational process it has undertaken and procedures put in place to make it more accountable and transparent. It is my hope that the nation and its leaders will continue to strive for more support, services and programs our members need.
In closing, I would like to thank the Senate for the amazing work you have all done and those include long nights, taking time away from your families and other areas. Knowing that you are supporting our nations by passing, amending and creating the laws necessary will help guide our nation for future generations.
I really enjoyed this opportunity and meet with various knowledgeable senators, including Senator Boyer, Senator Dyck, Senator Anderson and Senator Francis, and I look forward to working with you and others in creating and building a strong future for our people, nations and communities.
The Chair: Thank you very much, Trevor. The floor is open for one or two questions.
Senator Coyle: Thanks so much for being with us and also for this career that you have embarked on. Could you tell us a little bit about why you headed in this direction of social work and whether your thinking has changed about what that entails now that you’re actually a practitioner?
Mr. Dubois: The reason I got into social work was that I was working as a youth outreach worker and it was seeing one youth in particular. He had nothing. Seeing the smile and the joy that program brought to him, it included a meal and then there are activities. Just seeing the change, the transformation. He was guided in the wrong direction, and after taking it he didn’t know he was Indigenous and then realizing he was Indigenous because it involved cultural programming. That’s the reason.
Senator Coyle: Thank you. Now that you’re practising as an Indigenous social worker, is your thinking changing now that you’re in direct practice?
Mr. Dubois: For sure. I do use various Indigenous ideologies and models with my social work practice. A lot of my work is guided by Indigenous philosophy.
Senator Coyle: Wonderful. Thank you.
Senator Doyle: Trevor, you would interact with a lot of young people like yourself, and I’m wondering what you’re hearing today about the political system and politicians generally. Is it enough to motivate you to want to become a part of that political system and to be one of the people eventually running things and running the country? If that’s putting you on the spot, just skip over it. But you do interact with a lot of people. What are you hearing about the political system? Is it serving you well and young people well? Would you want to become a part of it?
Mr. Dubois: That’s my long-term goal, eventually, after I get a doctorate in social work, to eventually go into politics. I think there needs to be more Indigenous policy-makers in this area.
I do think you are on the right track. Recently you have started providing more supports and services that address the issues that Indigenous people face, and young people. It’s guided, but eventually we will get there.
Senator Doyle: Good answer. Thank you.
The Chair: Thank you, Trevor.
We’ll call up the second witness.
[Translation]
Megan Hébert-Lefebvre, as an individual: Good afternoon. My name is Megan Hébert-Lefebvre. I live in Quebec, in the Abenaki Indigenous community of Wôlinak. I work at the Grand Council of the Waban-Aki Nation. I work for the entire Abenaki nation in Quebec. The nation includes Wôlinak and Odanak, which are located in central Quebec.
Abenaki people also live in the United States. Even though the population is declining significantly, we’re still there. The Grand Council of the Waban-Aki Nation is a tribal council. Our mission is to represent our community members, to advocate for their rights and to administer the services provided by the department or by community organizations.
We’re trying to promote the economic development of our communities. I work as a cultural officer with young people. I work mainly with teenagers to develop cultural content on web platforms. We work with partners, such as museums.
I mainly teach graphic design, because I’m studying graphic arts. Together with the Niona team, a team that we created with young people aged 12 to 17, I teach young people how to develop these platforms. We teach them professional skills and help them build their future careers. We encourage their sense of belonging.
I come from a community that has lost much of its language and culture. Since we live near the city, we must contend with the rapid modernization of the community. The community suffered some trauma in the past, which prevented the transfer of knowledge from generation to generation. We lost our culture and language. At this point in history, we must instill a sense of belonging in young people so that they can develop a sense of pride in their culture.
For the sake of future generations, young people must reclaim their Indigenous heritage. The older generation must also relearn their heritage. A taboo prevents them from talking about their culture, and they tell themselves that their knowledge isn’t important. The young people must teach the older generation to preserve the culture and keep it alive. The culture of Indigenous nations in Canada has been lost for a long time. The young people of today and tomorrow have renewed efforts to reclaim and ensure the continuation of Amerindian history, tradition and culture in general.
A relationship has been established between Canada and the First Nations, which is a good start. We should encourage renewal, and take action to change and modernize the relationship through young people. This means creating a modern and egalitarian relationship. As young people, we have the impression that the government is at the top and the nations are at the bottom. It’s always difficult to ask for something. We would like this relationship to not revolve around the past.
Sometimes, the relationship between the government and Indigenous peoples is based on the resentment of the past. Our history must also be taken into account. We must develop our communities by adapting them to modern realities. This relationship should be based on modernity and equality.
In an ideal future, to ensure that our nations are strong and dynamic, they must remember both the positive and negative aspects of their history. They mustn’t forget either the good parts or the ugly parts. The nations must continue to move forward despite the loss of their heritage. Yes, we’ve suffered a loss. Yes, it’s normal that we’ve forgotten things and that there wasn’t any transfer of knowledge. However, we must always move forward, regardless of what happened before. We must adapt to today’s realities.
As a dynamic and strong nation, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people must be resilient and open. We must be proud of our roots in order to demonstrate our culture and promote our heritage.
To establish a new relationship, I’d say that we must first identify the main difficulties of all the communities. Each community has different characteristics, different ways of life and different realities. This will ensure that the communities receive proper services. Indigenous people, especially older people, must overcome their mistrust. Young people are beginning to open up, but older people are suspicious of the government because of certain laws or past experiences and the stereotypes that they’ve encountered in their daily lives. A relationship of trust with the First Nations must be developed. It’s not enough to take their ideas and implement them. We must build a relationship and work together.
In terms of the recognition of history and languages, we’re currently working on history in schools, so that young people can learn more and so that Indigenous history is taught more extensively.
In terms of education, I think that the recognition of Indigenous history instills a real sense of belonging among young people. The government wants to establish a new relationship with Indigenous people, but Canadian society can be included in the process. The prospect of visiting an Indigenous community and learning about its heritage and culture is already a sign of openness towards the First Nations. This is my vision for a new relationship between Canada and the First Nations.
[English]
Senator LaBoucane-Benson: Thank you very much for your presentation.
I’m looking at your profile and you do a lot of work in digital media. What do you think the role of digital media is in the self-determination of Indigenous people and in cultural repatriation? Do you think there’s a role for digital media?
[Translation]
Ms. Hébert-Lefebvre: Yes. Through web technology and the creation of the team, we reach many people. In terms of education, we’re talking about the Internet, a technology that makes it possible to reach many people.
We used to give lectures to classes of 30 people, and that was it. Today, we talk to people through social networks. By sharing and exchanging knowledge, we can reach larger audiences. I think that, in the Internet age, we must take every opportunity to do so. Instead of complaining about the downsides of technology, we must make the most of it and use it properly.
I think that this truly promotes self-determination, since we’re making ourselves visible. We’re proud to demonstrate our culture. So yes, I think that it’s very important.
[English]
The Chair: Thank you very much for your presentation.
We’ll call up our third presenter, Karlee Johnson.
Karlee Johnson, as an individual: [Indigenous language spoken]. My name is Karlee Johnson and I’m from Eskasoni First Nation. My future goal is to become a doctor whose first language is Mi’kmaq so I can help our people when they are conveying their symptoms in Mi’kmaq.
My parents are Tom and Carol Anne Johnson. My fiancé is Gerard Francis. I have two brothers, three sisters, one sister-in-law, one niece and two nephews.
[Indigenous language spoken]. Today, what I speak about comes from my heart, and I want to let you all know how proud I am to be Mi’kmaq and to be a fluent Mi’kmaq speaker, reader and writer.
[Indigenous language spoken]. I want to let you all know what has brought me here today and how proud I am of my culture and who I am today as an Indigenous person.
First, I am fortunate to come from a home where both parents and families speak the Mi’kmaq language. In our home community of Eskasoni, a brand new Mi’kmaq immersion program was established in the year 2000. At the time, I was 4 years old and my parents decided it was best for me to be enrolled in this program. On my first day of school, I can still recall the feeling that I felt. It was a feeling of pride, comfort, respect and safeness.
Through this program, I was taught how to speak, read and write in the Mi’kmaq language. We were taught about our culture through dance, song, prayers and teachings. In Grade 3, I became one of 19 students to graduate from the first ever Mi’kmaq immersion program in Eskasoni.
I would like to share with you all a story today. I came across a Mi’kmaq community member when I was in grade 9 who told me, “Karlee, did you know that Mi’kmaq speakers don’t get far in life?” Then the person said, “What’s the use of going to the Eskasoni high school —” which would be grade 10 “— where you would be taught by Mi’kmaq people. You can get a better quality of education if you go to school off reserve.”
So I just took the person’s words and I nodded. That night, I went home and spoke with my mom. I said, “I made up my mind and I want to go to school off reserve so that I have a better chance of succeeding.” Then my mom told me, “Tu’s, remember that you are very privileged to have a school in your own community. You will be greeted by Mi’kmaq teachers and speakers, and we have very successful people who came from that high school.”
This became an important lesson for me. I went forward and went to high school in my community. I completed my high school diploma with a 98 per cent average and this allowed me to become 1 of 100 students to be accepted into the Bachelor of Science in Medical Sciences program at Dalhousie University located in Halifax, Nova Scotia. I graduated last year, June 2018, with my BSc in Medical Sciences and became one of 54 graduates from that program.
Since I came back home to Eskasoni in 2018, I was hired by the Union of Nova Scotia Indians, a tribal council located in Nova Scotia, where I currently work under the brand new Mi’kmaq Nation Cancer Care Strategy as capacity development lead for cancer learning. I volunteered my time in the Eskasoni special needs support group, Christmas telethon, powwow and Mi’kmaq language initiative.
In all of these positions, whether working, volunteering or even stopping by at the local community store, I’ve been able to use my Mi’kmaq language as a skill for my community members.
As you all can now appreciate my story, you will realize that I lived on reserve my entire life. My first language is Mi’kmaq. I am a confident Mi’kmaq woman who was able to succeed in an education system that was not built for Indigenous peoples. I personally feel that the main reason for my success is because of the support system that I currently have from my parents, fiancé, family, friends and community of Eskasoni.
To the contrary, however, there are people who are from Indigenous communities who put down their own culture and language. Why? Perhaps because of events imposed by the federal government that they and their families have encountered right from the start of colonization to the implementation of the Indian Act: White Paper policy, Sixties Scoop, Indian residential school, Indian day school and centralization, to name a few, that have directly affected the well-being of Indigenous peoples.
In literature, we know that the purpose of Indian residential schools was to take the Indian out of the child. Thus, these events took the most valuable pieces of what makes an Indigenous culture, their own culture and language. Many community members came home from residential school and were ashamed of their own identities.
Can you imagine being told that your own culture and language are inferior to others? It is no wonder that the person whom I encountered in grade 9 told me to go to school off reserve. Because this person might have been ashamed of their own identity.
This is what many people have been made to believe. There’s a current stigma. Many people in our communities have suffered from trauma, attempted and died by suicide, live on social assistance, live in poverty, experience hopelessness, deal with mental health issues, deal with abuse, alcoholism and drug trafficking to name a few.
You will hear statistics that many Indigenous peoples are incarcerated, not educated, involved in the criminal justice system and involved in the child welfare system. And then we are looked down upon for who we are? There is so much hurt that happens in our communities that it is inevitable because I see it first-hand every day. Many families do not have the opportunity and upbringing to grow up in supportive homes as I did. I advocate for these families and children to be able to get the right types of support that they need so that they too can feel empowered with confidence and love in their own Indigenous identities.
If the federal government wants to create a better relationship with Indigenous peoples, I ask you to consider these following points. This year, 2019, is the International Year of Indigenous Languages declared by the United Nations, and it is time for Canada to work toward an increase in fluent Indigenous speakers across the country and uplift other Indigenous groups about the importance of their own languages, cultures and identities.
If possible, I’d also like to see programs implemented for healing, empowerment and resilience for all Indigenous groups.
In conclusion, I truly believe with my heart [Indigenous language spoken] that with language comes culture, along with which comes an increase in a person’s identity and overall well-being.
Wela’lioq. Thank you all for listening to me. Meegwetch.
Senator Francis: That was an excellent presentation on culture and language. Every time I thought of a question, you answered it before I could finish it in my mind.
In your view what role can you play in informing changes to federal policies and legislation that might affect our First Nations communities?
Ms. Johnson: I don’t think I understand the question clearly.
Senator Francis: As youth and leaders of the future, what steps would you take to inform or participate in government changes to policies and legislation?
Ms. Johnson: I definitely feel that advocacy is important and also to speak with our chiefs, because they are the ones who can then speak to the higher power for the federal government. If we can establish that advocacy and what is needed in the community, then we can work toward eliminating the gaps that currently exist.
Senator Christmas: Wela’lioq. Thank you very much, Karlee. It was an amazing message that you had. There are some people out there who think for young people it’s an either/or. Either you go to a Mi’kmaq school or you go to a non-Mi’kmaq school. Sometimes people think that it’s one or the other. Now, you graduated with a bachelor of science in medical sciences, so obviously, the Mi’kmaq school didn’t hurt your academics.
Ms. Johnson: No.
Senator Christmas: It seems to me that you gained from both worlds. On reserve, you gained the strength of being an Indigenous woman; you know your language and you know who you are. At the same time, you have achieved all these academics.
For those people who think that you have to choose one or the other, what would you tell them, given all that you have accomplished and done so far? You can actually do both. You can be a very strong Mi’kmaq woman and yet be a very strong academically achieving person. How do you tell people who doubt that can happen?
Ms. Johnson: What I would definitely tell the people who doubt that could happen is [Indigenous language spoken], which means that an Indigenous person is capable, because oftentimes people in our communities feel, “Oh, I can’t do that. I’m not smart enough.”
The main message I would tell those people who doubt themselves is [Indigenous language spoken] and don’t give up. That’s what I truly believe in.
The Chair: Thank you very much.
Our next witness is Jukipa Kotierk. Whenever you’re ready, the floor is yours.
Jukipa Kotierk, as an individual: [Indigenous language spoken]. I’d like to acknowledge the traditional, unceded territory of the Algonquin people that we are on today, and remind all Indigenous peoples that, as Indigenous peoples on this nation now known as Canada, we need to maintain solidarity moving forward.
I’d also like to acknowledge the closing report of the National Inquiry Into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and honour all of the missing Indigenous women and girls and Indigenous peoples lost in Canada at this moment.
I am privileged to be here today as an Inuk youth to speak for myself and for my people. I am privileged to speak here today not necessarily because I’m here speaking in Parliament or with senators, but because I’m still alive. I’m 24 years old. As an Inuk woman, I have a secure job, I have education, I have graduated from high school, I graduated from university last year — and my sister is actually graduating today from university — and I have a family and community that supports me.
All of these are social determinants of my mental health and well-being. Without this, I wouldn’t be where I am today. These are social determinants of my health and well-being that seem standard across larger nations, such as the nation of Canada. These are not being met for many Indigenous peoples, including Inuit in Nunavut. This needs to change.
With Nunavut being a public government with 84 per cent of our population being represented by Inuit, and with half of that being the youth that are represented in Nunavut, I use my voice as an Inuk youth to speak out for myself and my people whenever I can.
To help myself move forward in my advances, I try to remind myself that my voice matters, regardless if it quakes or wavers or I seem small. I do my best to remind myself and this is a result of the support from my family and community.
This is something I also advocate and try to encourage amongst my peers, family and others — to use their voice as well to ensure that they know their message is valid, that they are valid and that they matter.
With youth representing over half of the Inuit population, with 57 per cent being under the age of 25, it is vital that these social determinants of health and well-being are being met. Present-day genocide is being silent to Indigenous peoples and these social determinants of health.
If needs are not being met, which is strategically done in most cases, people are left to feel lost. A lot of times, in Indigenous communities, people feel lost and, in actuality, their lives have been stolen when these social determinants have not been met.
As a result, across Inuit Nunangat and throughout all of Canada and the northernmost parts of Canada as a whole — Northwest Territories, Inuvialuit, Nunavut, Nunatsiavut in Northern Labrador and Nunavik in Northern Quebec — Inuit unfortunately have a rate of suicide five to 25 times higher compared to Canada as a whole.
This is unacceptable. Canada needs to be held accountable. Inuit need to exercise self-governance and sovereignty and be supported by Canada. We need to be represented, in spaces such as Parliament, as Inuit. Even with a public government, we as Inuit need to take up this space and be our guides for our people and territory.
I do my part by showing up, using my voice and trying to encourage others to do the same. I work with life promotion in my day job and I volunteer with the Kamatsiaqtut Help Line help line in our territory. I also work to volunteer at the We Matter campaign, which is an Indigenous youth-based multimedia platform that helps encourage hope, strength and culture. I also work in the Iqaluit chapter of jack.org to fight the stigma around mental health and wellness.
I do this work to make sure Inuit are heard, to make sure we are represented and to make sure we are assisted to my capacity.
I was actually hesitant to accept this invite and offer to speak here today because I felt like I don’t belong. It is also the exact reason why I am here.
Being here today representing myself and my people’s life is life promotion. Modelling, healing and strength is representing my peoples. Inuit are ayungi and capable.
The Chair: We’re happy you’re here, Jukipa.
Ms. Kotierk: We are resilient. Nunavut was made for Inuit and our future generations. Thank you.
The Chair: Thank you for that very powerful presentation. I have a short question.
How do you keep your spirit alive? You have taken on some very difficult issues, the suicide issue, taken on the responsibility for speaking up.
You must do something that helps you cope with all of that.
Ms. Kotierk: Thank you for your question. I’m actually doing it right now. I let myself cry as much, as it’s not considered normalized in our current society. In Indigenous communities and in Inuit cultures especially, we allow anyone whenever they have those feelings that need to come out, let them come out. So I allow myself that. That’s my release and that’s how I’m able to move forward while trying to do what I can to my capacity. I’m aware of my capacity, time and limits and I always try to honour that.
The Chair: Thank you for that. It helps me and I’m sure maybe some other senators.
I’ve been noted to cry in the Senate chamber and they’ll say, “Oh, there she goes again.” But thank you so much for that answer.
Senator McCallum: Thank you for your presentation. It was awesome. I wanted to go back to that feeling, that sense of not belonging, which another presenter had talked about.
I think that as a society, it’s our country, but we’ve never been made to feel like we belong and especially as a former student from residential school, that sense is with me even still today.
What I used to do was make up for that, and then you try to fit in, which is different from belonging. So when I fit in, then I am giving up some of my spirit and some of my power. Differentiating the two is good because we do belong, and I have to tell myself that even today, in my late 60s. Then you said we need to take up space. And those two go together. When you don’t belong, you withdraw, because you don’t feel that you own the space or you don’t give yourself permission to take up that space.
How can society or the Senate help you and Canada realize that? How can we help in making you understand that you belong and that you matter?
Ms. Kotierk: Thank you for your question. I thought about this a lot, and I think it really starts with having representation in all levels, whether that be in media, government, in your community. I feel like I’m modelling that representation for future youth as well. That’s at least what I aspire to do, to let them know they can follow along and do the same and take up that space. So it is really being unapologetic, as Indigenous peoples, in spaces that were never made for us.
Senator McCallum: Thank you, that was awesome.
The Chair: Thank you very much. We will move on to our next speaker. Our next witness Aurora Leddy.
Aurora Leddy, as an individual: My name is Aurora Leddy. My family comes from the Lac Ste. Anne and St. Albert areas in Alberta. I grew up in Edmonton.
I come from a strong line of strong women. My kokum was Delia Gray and she is my inspiration for taking on anything that makes me scared. As a Metis person growing up in Edmonton and going through the school system, I was lucky always to be aware that I was Metis, to have culture in the home, to have my mom taking us to events and making sure we were part of our community, but I rarely saw it inside the school. In fact, in our social textbook, there was a tiny blurb in a page that kind of talked about First Nations people, and it talked about us like we were in the 1800s and that was all.
Throughout schooling, into high school and when I graduated, I went to an amazing thing called Indigenous grad, but it was only really about First Nations people and ignored the rest of us, which was sad. I did not feel I belonged to that space because I am not First Nations. I am Metis and I have my own culture — and if I cry I’m very sorry; I have a very low cry threshold.
And this was something I realized from a young age. Metis, for various reasons, have always been a little more hidden. Whether because we were targeted after the Red River resistance to just not having the same rights. In Alberta, for the longest time, we didn’t even have our own harvesting rights. They were taken away. I’m glad today that we do have them back, but they are still limited.
The hard thing watching these reports come out, all these things, is the fact that we are still semi-forgotten. We are not part of the Sixties Scoop settlement, while we were definitely impacted by that. We are not part, fully, with the residential school. I see the blanket exercise and it has a bit of us but still, there is a focus on First Nations, which is good but still not great.
We have three Indigenous peoples and yet it seems to be ranked in a hierarchy. The language programs in Edmonton are primarily for Cree. They ignore the other nations that are around us. They ignore my language, Michif. It’s not great.
With the Daniels decision, I see that our community has had an easier time in fighting for our rights, getting agreements and having nation-to-nation discussions. And I speak from my experience in Alberta with that.
But the thing that needs to go forward is that we need to be heard and be just as equal. As the person before me said, they don’t belong, that feeling. You need to be heard, to feel belonging. And words escape me. On that note, that has also inspired me to do lots of things. I started hosting jigging classes, and I now teach jigging for the Metis Nation of Alberta within Edmonton. Schools don’t have resources for Metis education, and so I try and go out to schools and give an introduction to Metis people in Alberta. I feel very privileged coming from Alberta knowing that our Metis people have land base. I feel as Metis people in Alberta we are very privileged but I feel as Metis people in Canada we are still very limited.
The Chair: Thank you very much, Aurora. We have time for one or two questions.
I have a quick question for you.
You mentioned that when you were in high school, the Metis people are not really part of the curriculum. I’m wondering if in your English classes, did you have any books that were written by Metis people. I’m from Saskatchewan, so I’m thinking of Maria Campbell, if you had her book Half-Breed in your curriculum.
Ms. Leddy: No.
The Chair: That is a shame.
Senator McCallum: I wanted to go back to your statement about the hierarchy in the Indigenous community. There are two levels — it’s First Nation Metis and Inuit, then it goes down to the Cree, Dene, Ojibwe, so it is many levels and I wanted to apologize about the First Nation Metis and Inuit. That’s why I started going to Indigenous — but at one point in my life, people said to me you are not Inuit and you cannot speak for me. So then I had to start being careful to only represent the First Nations.
And I have to tell you, my mother was Metis from Red River, but she married my dad so I lived with my Metis grandmother most of my life. It was the same with the Metis — you don’t represent us. That’s part of the problem. It is not that we don’t — you do belong, but stuff has happened in history that has led to where we are today. So now instead of saying Indigenous, I say First Nations Metis and Inuit now to try to put it back in line.
I just wanted you to understand how we came to be where we are and it wasn’t intentional.
The Chair: Senator Coyle, do you have a short question.
Senator Coyle: Thank you so much, Aurora. It’s wonderful to hear your Metis voice and also to know that you also using your Metis dancing.
Could you speak to us about how you see language, yours is Michif, and culture as being important to the future of Metis peoples in Canada, in particular to your generation?
Ms. Leddy: I like to preface this that language is important to culture but they are not equal in the way that if you lose your language all the culture is gone.
It is a misconception that needs to be addressed.
However, language holds a lot of markers toward beliefs and understandings and world view. Metis youth don’t have Michif right now and it feels like it’s a struggle to get Michif going. I know in St. Albert they have a continued learning Michif program that is being taught currently, but that is only one thing happening. Youths are hungry for the knowledge to the point that I see a lot of them running — they want beading, they want the arts, and dancing and they run to their First Nations cousins to get it because nothing is being provided. Language is another part of that. So they run to learn Cree because it is at least somewhat close. While we have lost it, we have lots of documentation in Michif and we are still in a place where we can bring it back, but I’m very scared but it’s not taken seriously.
The Chair: Thank you very much for your presentation, Aurora.
We’ll now call up Christine Luza.
Thank you very much, Ms. Luza. Thank you for the song today in the Senate foyer. Whenever you’re ready, the floor is yours.
Christine Luza, as an individual: [Indigenous language spoken]. Respectful greetings. My name is Christine and I’m an Indigenous woman born and raised in Toronto who has family roots in M’Chigeeng on Manitoulin Island and I thank you for the opportunity to be here today. I would like to address a number of pivotal questions in Canadian Indigenous politics and society that relate to the principles and practices of our renewed relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada. How can we continue to address the question of reconciliation and relationship repair?
I would first like to acknowledge the traditional territory on which we gather and I would like to acknowledge my ancestors and the beings of creation and invite the beings of creation and my ancestors into this room to sit with me while I address this committee. I brought my feather here as well to guide my remarks to ensure that they are voiced in a good way. I speak to you as an Indigenous young person, as an Indigenous woman, an Indigenous scholar, researcher and educator who works largely in the fields of Indigenous studies but most importantly I speak to you today as a voice representing the Indigenous future.
In the past, residential schools, Canadian national narratives and Canadian laws saw a future without Indigenous peoples and it’s largely due to the work of Indigenous peoples who have guided us to this point of working toward reconciliation and where we are today. I acknowledge that and I acknowledge the people whose shoulders I stand on top of, so thank you.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission found there is a very strong link between the recognition of Indigenous rights and the practice of relationship renewal so I would like to reference the TRC’s Call to Action 43 which calls upon governments to fully adopt and implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People as the framework for reconciliation.
Call to Action 44 calls upon governments to develop a national action plan strategy and other concrete measures to achieve the goals of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People.
From the calls to action, it’s clear that UNDRIP is the cornerstone of reconciliation. So as such, I’m here today to say at the same time it’s imperative for Bill C-262 an act to ensure the laws of Canada are in harmony where the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People is fully supported and implemented in the Canadian government. UNDRIP is the basic minimum standard for the survival, dignity and well-being of the Indigenous people of the world. I want to reflect on something I heard Romeo Saganash say. He has concerns that in 2019 there are some who are still hesitant regarding the human rights of the first peoples of this country.
As an Indigenous young person I wanted to comment on that, because if UNDRIP, which is the basic minimum standard of treatment for Indigenous peoples in international law, can’t be imagined here, then how can Indigenous youth imagine themselves in the future of the country?
I wanted to ask about the implications of that to myself and other Indigenous youth, and how that impacts Indigenous peoples’ sense of the worth of their human dignity and also the worth of their role in the future of the country.
I ask this question in terms of imagination, because at times, obviously, the cultural genocide of Indigenous peoples has been imagined as morally acceptable. But I wanted to come here today and talk about Indigenous young people as a profound source of imagination for the country.
I wanted to talk about treaty principles and the spirit and intent of treaties, and that I feel it’s very important for us to restore the sense of agency over the treaty relationship, and that all people in Canada are involved in the treaty relationship. Everybody is involved in the treaty relationship, and that we do actually have agency over the future of the treaty relationship. These things aren’t locked and unable to be moved forward. They can be, but it requires a certain kind of imagination and a certain kind of good faith.
I feel this bill is asking for good faith again, and I’m showing up to this committee again in good faith, just like all my ancestors did. I wanted to be clear about the spirit and intent of treaties, and the spirit and intent of bills that ask for alignment with UNDRIP, that asks for the harmonization of laws with UNDRIP.
I come from Toronto, and in Toronto I do Indigenous education and Indigenous research and consulting. Some of the unique things we do there with land-based learning is that we started to go into the Humber River of Toronto and began to restore the land using Indigenous agriculture. We started to restore medicines, bring healers on the land and we began to check in with women and two-spirited people and ask them what their needs are on the land. We started saying things like, “We want to put our placentas on the land. We want to bury our placentas. We need teachings about that.”
We started to bring multiple generations back on to the land through our programs. When we started growing medicines, we also turned them into teaching gardens, so we developed curricula. There’s a curriculum, it’s called The Natural Curiosity. The importance of Indigenous perspectives in land-based inquiry. So we started working with educational strategies around land-based inquiry and bringing many teachers, like a thousand teachers from Toronto, on to the land. We printed maybe 18,000 copies of that curriculum.
It is really important to use Indigenous education to help people work through the dark history, and the truth of dark facts and dark emotion that surrounds those incorrect tellings of history. When we’re working on repairing the moral fabric of a divided society, Indigenous knowledge solutions are key, because they reflect and mirror the spirit and intent of treaties.
I strongly believe in land-based education. I try to work in areas of research, things like reconciliation, pedagogy I try to develop, and I strongly believe in the imagination, the ability to see a country and a future that includes Indigenous people.
When UNDRIP is acknowledged — not as a threat to the country but something that’s bringing us together in unity, helping us work together through the law, bringing us out of contestation toward the emerging practices that are pouring out of the society, the new emergent practices of reconciliation — then we will have more time and space for the proliferation of Indigenous knowledge throughout the society and return to treaty principles and the spirit and intent of the treaty.
I strongly believe in the agency of the treaty relationship, and I do believe in the power of the law, and its ability to facilitate justice for Indigenous peoples.
But some aspects of the law have historically been very negative for Indigenous peoples. When we’re meeting in reconciliation, it’s like we’re reencountering each other and we’re having a very difficult encounter. But that doesn’t make it impossible, and that doesn’t mean that it needs to be in bad faith.
I’m here today to tell the truth and to stand before you and tell you the truth, my truth, and to ask you to meet me again in a treaty relationship.
The Chair: Thank you very much, Christine.
Senator Klyne: Thank you for your presentation, and thank you to everyone for being here. I know we are going to hear a couple more speakers, but there’s a clear trend here. It’s very inspiring, very motivating, and provides a lot of hope. I’ll come back to that in a moment.
Your words “asking for good faith again,” I find motivating. We have a number of issues before us right now. Thank you for the reminder and a little bit of a kick in the butt and motivation.
On the hope side, I can tell you I’ve been around these tables for three decades, 30 or more years, dealing with social issues, economic issues of First Nations, Metis, Inuit.
From my perspective, when I think back 30 or more years ago, and to listen to what I’m hearing today, I know we’re closing the gap. So continue that, because we continue to close that gap, continue to follow the dreams you’re sharing with us and the visions, and what you’re dealing with. In some ways — I don’t want to oversimplify this — but hard or easy has nothing to do with this. Keep on moving. I heard someone mention baby steps. Those baby steps will get you sooner than not at all.
Madam Chair, my question would be this: Do you have a story to share about how you came by that feather?
Ms. Luza: That’s a great question. I work with a lot of traditional healers. One thing I really wanted to make a statement about is the need of Indigenous women and two-spirited people to equal access to traditional healing.
I also want to say I feel there’s a strong need for funds for Indigenous women and two-spirited people to access traditional knowledge with women traditional healers and looking at women’s traditional knowledge.
In that vein, I’ve been Oshkaabewis, which is somebody who is seen as working with healers, but really it’s not, it’s someone who serves the people and serves the spirit of life. That’s what it is.
When I was “Oshkaabewis’ing” with a bunch of healers, so a healer gave it to me, and I have many items in my bundle that came to me. And the messages I got were to be able to use the items to help women and children.
So it’s really important because — my last name, my mom’s maiden name is Migwan. Migwan is a feather. But it’s really important for me to have this feather because it’s connecting me to the rest of creation spiritually and it’s embedding me in a web of relationships that I’m a part of. In an Indigenous legal tradition, it’s also helping me embed in natural laws.
That’s why I have it; I have it because a healer gave it to me and because of my path as an Indigenous woman trying to work in traditional healing.
Senator Klyne: Did the person who gave it to you tell you why they were giving it to you?
Ms. Luza: Yes, they did. The thing is that objects in an Indigenous world are animated and have personhood. This object can consent to come to my spirit, and it will come in my spirit first. I already had a message that said I’m going to get it, and then it came because the object consented. To me, it has personhood. I don’t need to rely on someone saying, “It’s my discretion if I give it to you or not,” because that’s not how we do traditional healing. That’s not how I feel.
If you’re asking why he gave it to me, he gave it to me to use it how it was intended to be used: for the healing of our people. That’s why. There are a lot of different teachings that I feel are essential. Spirituality has to come from your own spirit through legitimate spiritual seeking. That’s my answer.
Senator Klyne: If you know who the healer is and you’re still in contact with him, I would encourage you to ask him why. When you feel you need to take one more step and you don’t know if you have it in you, remember why he gave it to you. That’s one of the greatest honours you can receive.
Ms. Luza: Thank you. I appreciate that.
The Chair: Thank you very much, Christine.
The Chair: We now call up Richard Pellissier-Lush as our next witness. As soon as you’re ready, the floor is yours.
Richard Pellissier-Lush, as an individual: First, I want to thank each and every single one of you for giving us a voice today. This doesn’t come from my speech but from the heart. It is greatly appreciated. Every single one of us has been preparing these speeches for quite some time, and we’re proud of what we’ve come forward with, for you and we want to thank you again for giving us this platform.
Please hear these little voices. [Indigenous language spoken].
My traditional name is Eagle Dancer, and my given name is Richard Pellissier-Lush. I’m a Mi’kmaq man from Lennox Island First Nation, Prince Edward Island. I’m truly honoured and humbled to be here with so many amazing champions and leaders who are doing wonderful things across Turtle Island, Canada. Please hear these little voices.
I wear many hats in Prince Edward Island, as I am sure my friends and colleagues here with me today do. My full-time position is working with the Aboriginal Sport Circle program coordinator through the Mi’kmaq Confederacy of P.E.I. The P.E.I. Aboriginal Sport Circle supports the development and delivery of sports and recreation opportunities for Indigenous youth across Prince Edward Island. My colleague Lyn Ann Hogan and I create a mighty team of two to represent P.E.I. through the Aboriginal Sport Circle family. A mantra we follow closely is “from the playground to the podium,” and we feel being involved in the communities, and developing programs and hearing from the voices of the youth as to what they want and need is so important to us and our programming.
In the last two years, we have created and developed programs to accommodate the smallest of youth with our own version of Mi’kmaq active start, held sports camps for current and future North American Indigenous Games athletes and worked to create programming to help our elders live a stronger and healthier lifestyle. We are very proud of the program we are involved with. We understand that in order to see positive lifestyle changes and development in our youth, we must commit to and continue with a long-term plan to help all the community members across Prince Edward Island. Please hear these little voices.
Another hat I wear is an actor, sometimes writer and co-founder of an all Indigenous theatre group called Mi’kmaq Legends. We’re a group that specializes in telling our Mi’kmaq stories from long ago to audiences across the Maritimes in a theatrical performance. These performances are very important to us as we educate and pass on our culture and tradition to all audiences that come to see and enjoy our performances. We tell by storytelling. Each story has an important message we hope the audience enjoys. Most important, when they leave that seat, we want them to share the knowledge and messages we preach and that resonates toward them and changes the way they look at things.
Treating Mother Earth with care, being respecting to your peers and elders, believing in yourself, being proud of who you are and your culture — these are a few lessons we teach through our Mi’kmaq Legends. We are community members from across P.E.I., trying to make a difference, one performance at a time. Please hear these little voices.
I have been very blessed to have been able to travel across Canada and visit many different First Nation communities in my lifetime. Each community has their own issues and problems that can cause stress, anxiety and sometimes even depression in community members. But in my travels, I’ve found a similar theme throughout all my visits, and that is having strong, clean role models instilled into the communities. These role models are the superheroes in the youths’ eyes. They’re the ones who have the power to put an at-risk youth back on the right path, or they can do the opposite and keep these troubled minds on a path of addiction, crime and pain. Please hear these little voices.
There has been a vicious cycle for the youth over generations and generations now, which has created trouble for the youth of our future. This cycle continues. I mean their perceived role models in communities who should not be role models in our youths’ eyes. These are males and females who live a life on the wrong side of the road, but the youth think of them as their superheroes, and they want to be just like them when they grow up. This creates this vicious cycle, and our youth are the ones to suffer in the end. Please hear our little voices.
Our youth need to see other community members succeeding, following ambitions and dreams, and one day obtaining them. Our youth need to know who the right superheroes are for them to look up to, but in order to create these role models in the community, the community needs help and support. These community members need access to education and upgrading, and not to be put on a small list of names that could potentially be enrolled or possibly given funding to start or finish their education. Youths are always watching, listening and learning from us, and we need to be put in situations where we can be successful — not only successful in our own lives but successful in the lives of the youth watching us. Please hear our little voices.
Our elders are slowly passing away and taking with them their knowledge and stories. Our youth are ready now to be that generation that learns from the elders. We just need the opportunities to gather and share. Each nation, each district and each community should be given the opportunities to learn from the elders so that when they become parents, they can share their knowledge to their own children.
Some stories will be hard to hear. Some will have teachings and lessons, but the most important thing is that it is time for our youth to gain this knowledge before it is too late. Please hear our little voices.
Our youth needs support. They need safe places to stay when they are in trouble. They need places to heal when they suffer from addictions. They need the support of the community even when they are far from home. They need adults who know them, to be for them, when they are in care. They need support when they leave the foster care system and not left adrift in a sea of chaos just because they’ve turned 18. Please hear our mighty voices.
They need to see government incorporating more traditional Indigenous practices that involve Indigenous people across Canada. They need access to mental health services that are knowledgeable in Indigenous culture and that can help them heal from those addictions.
Intergenerational trauma, sexual abuse, physical abuse, separation from their communities, growing statistics of youth suicide, learning disabilities, and exploitation of young adults, these are all issues that need to be addressed in our youth and they need to be supported in our communities. Please hear our mighty voices.
Our youth need to know that they can grow up and have the power to change the world and that the Canadian government acknowledges their culture and traditions. No more stopping in at a powwow, or mawio’mi, and saying the government is indigenized now. No more, not inviting elders and our leaders to the table when major issues need to be talked about. No more letting ancient languages just die because of lack of opportunity and support these communities sometimes have.
These youths are speaking to us, and though their voices may be small right now, one day they will be mighty and take over the world we live in today. But we must be there to support, help and listen to the youth. Please hear all of our voices. Wela’lioq. Thank you. I was not expecting that. Sorry. Wow.
The Chair: Thank you. It’s power of the energy in the room as you’re being truthful and honest. We have time for one question.
Senator Francis: You touched in your remarks on youth in care and how important aftercare is. Can you expand a little more about that? Because we’re discussing that in our child welfare bill, Bill C-92.
Mr. Pellissier-Lush: Before I answer that question, I wanted to let everyone know Senator Francis was a huge role model in my life growing up and I’m so honoured to be here today.
For me, working so closely with community members and youth in each community, I see time and time again youth being involved in foster care and being placed in different families, maybe not Indigenous. Two of my stepbrothers have been placed in our family, and we’re gifted by the Creator for those two boys. I don’t look at them as my stepbrothers. They’re my brothers. They’re family.
But there are so many times that individuals and Indigenous youth go through foster care and they fall into the cracks. They just get lost in translation. I know one individual, he’s a very proud Inuktitut, and he is in Prince Edward Island right now. He got placed all the way out in Tignish, Prince Edward Island. That’s far. So he has pretty much been segregated from all of the culture that we provide in Prince Edward Island in our communities. He is just about to turn 18. When he turns 18, that’s it. He says, “Good luck, I wish you luck in your future experiences.” But he’s an at-risk youth. If we don’t recognize that and work together to get these at-risk youth back into a support system, back into communities, back into healthy lifestyles, we will lose these youths. These youths are the future. Though we are all here today, they may be the ones sitting in these chairs in the next 20-30 years, and we need to look after them and support them in any way we can.
So with foster care, I feel like there’s a lot of different holes that need to be recognized by the government and a lot of different problems and situations that these youths are having to encounter. My heart hurts, as you can see. I’m crying. I’m a football player, I don’t cry. This will be embarrassing when I share this video later, but my heart just hurts. That’s why I’m crying right now. Thank you for that question. I hope I answered it.
Senator Scott Tannas (Deputy Chair) in the chair.
The Deputy Chair: Richard, thank you very much on behalf of everyone here for your wonderful presentation. We will now hear from Taylor Morriseau. While Taylor is coming forward, we want to let you know Senator Dyck had to leave to go to the chamber for 2:00 because she’s making a statement about your being here and the activities you’ve undertaken. She’s informing all of the Senate chamber in about five minutes on our activities together today and the work that you have done.
Taylor, welcome. The floor is yours.
Taylor Morriseau, as an individual: Tansi, boozhoo. Thank you for the introduction and thank you for the honour to gather here on unceded Algonquin territory and to be surrounded by so many relatives from different nations.
What a momentous reason to gather here today, to reshape our colonial ties into opportunities for positive change and to cultivate respect on the foundations of a fragmented past.
I am Cree from Peguis First Nation in the beautiful province of Manitoba. I’m proud to carry the name Morriseau as a descendant of Thomas Morriseau and Eliza Williams present at the signing of Treaty 1, and so too the name of my great-grandmother Christina Morriseau and a long line of matriarchs I am descended from. All were leaders, mentors and life givers, but I am the first to hold a degree from a post-secondary institution and to further pursue a biomedical PhD in the field of pharmacology and therapeutics.
Research is the foundation on which I intend to uplift the next generation of Indigenous youth because it’s the next generation of youth that I’m particularly concerned for who are disproportionately burdened by diseases that are unknown to non-Indigenous youth.
In Manitoba, the one word that dominates conversations when we talk about Indigenous health is diabetes. This is because Manitoban Indigenous youth currently experience rates of type 2 diabetes that are 20 times the national average. The incidence is continuing to rise, placing unprecedented strains on health care resources across Manitoba.
My PhD work focuses on diabetes in youth, and in particular, diabetes from four beautiful, resilient and proud Anishininiwuk communities in northeastern Manitoba.
It is from these communities that the first 11 children were ever diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in Canada, and second only in the world. This is not the international recognition that I think we want to be known for.
Let me remind you that these are children as young as 3, predominantly young girls, who are diagnosed with a disease that was thought to only affect overweight, sedentary adults. Over half of these children will go on to develop severe complications including end-stage kidney disease before they reach the age of 30. I think of my thirties, a few years away, the prospect of starting a family, of advancing in my career. These milestones are inaccessible to these youths who are burdened with a disease that, by definition, they should not have.
As a scientist, I understand that diabetes has an incredibly complex etiology which is compounded by environmental, social and political inequities. So I have found it a useful exercise to turn to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Call to Action 18 and to acknowledge that the current state of Aboriginal health in Canada is a direct result of previous government policies, including residential schools.
This is where things can get uncomfortable. This means pinpointing policies that legislated cultural genocide. This means holding the Indian Act accountable for the restriction and use and management of Indigenous lands. This is recognizing that the intergenerational effect starving children in residential schools have on the next generation of Indigenous youth. In research, we call this the developmental origins of health and disease theory, for which there is ample evidence to show that long-term nutritional deprivation in one generation leads to poor metabolic health outcomes in future generations.
Before beginning my PhD work, I also spent three years as a researcher with the Create H2O program for First Nations water and sanitation security. I spent time in Shoal Lake 40, the First Nations community that was forcibly removed and put into isolation 100 years ago by the City of Winnipeg’s drinking water aqueduct, and paradoxically has spent the last 22 years under a boil-water advisory. Just imagine when your right to clean water is literally bulldozed from underneath you, when your children are unable to swim in the waters of your youth and when your traditional foods, once abundant in your lakes, are now inaccessible, how highly processed diets high in sugar and saturated fats become the substitute.
The diabetes epidemic today is a direct result of these past and present injustices. How do we solve these large, multi-faceted issues, from water security to diabetes, to the long list of human rights concerns that we’re all too familiar with? How do we ensure Indigenous individuals have an equal right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health? If those words sound familiar to you then I’m happy. We’re on the right track, because this is what article 24 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People states. And given we are here today in search of a new relationship, there are no better guiding principles than those already outlined. To harmonize Canadian laws with the United Nations declaration will bring long overdue equity to this country.
And I would like to imagine what it would look like if 100 years ago we had sought free, prior and informed consent from the residents of Shoal Lake 40 before expropriating 1,200 hectares of ancestral lands and burial grounds. What if Shoal Lake 40 and the City of Winnipeg worked collaboratively as equal partners combining Winnipeg’s engineering prowess with thousands of years of traditional ecological knowledge? Can you imagine the sustainable and world-class water system that could have been built? And even better, to ensure that both communities had access to this fundamental human right?
So this is how I believe that we should view free, prior and informed consent, as an opportunity to engage with Indigenous nations and utilize our knowledge for the betterment of this country. Because without it, we will continue to widen the gaps in Indigenous health and the government will continue to fund scholars like me to become experts in diseases that should not even exist.
After today, I hope I can hold my head high and be proud that in 2019 Canada made a commitment to UNDRIP and, by extension, the next generation of Indigenous youth who are the future of health and health research in this country. So ekosi, meegwetch. Thank you.
The Deputy Chair: Thank you very much, Taylor.
We have time for a couple of questions, starting with Senator LaBoucane-Benson.
Senator LaBoucane-Benson: I was excited to hear your story, your example of Indigenous and Western science coming together to solve complex problems that are before us.
Could you give us an example in the area of diabetes research and healing, where Indigenous and Western science have come together to light the way?
Ms. Morriseau: Yes. Definitely. I’m actually engaged in research right now that is looking at diabetes in youth from these communities, and we know that diabetes in these youths have a genetic predisposition. It has been well documented. But what we are starting to understand is that how diet has played an intimate role in disease outcomes.
So by looking at the legacy of colonization and by situating our science within that legacy of colonization, what we know is that modern diets that are high in saturated fats and refined carbohydrates can accelerate disease progress and worsen these outcomes. But returning to a traditional Indigenous diet, which is rich in fats and proteins, it can actually attenuate some of these outcomes and stop this intergenerational cycle that we’re currently in. So it’s utilizing traditional Indigenous knowledge surrounding food security and food systems that we can prevent diabetes.
The Deputy Chair: We have sadly come to the end of our time. Trevor, Megan, Karlee, Jukipa, Aurora, Christine, Taylor and Richard. We want to thank you on behalf of this committee and on behalf of the Senate of Canada and the Parliament of Canada for your contributions here. We’re inspired by what you had to say. We wish you well as you take up leadership in our country and in your communities. We have some gifts we would like to provide you with as we close here today. And we thank you very much.
(The committee adjourned.)