Welcome, honourable minister. My question concerns the integrity of federal funding allocated to Indigenous Peoples.

Over the past decade, federal and territorial programs designed to support Indigenous communities have expanded, yet funding continues to be directed to self-proclaimed Indigenous organizations that are not recognized rights holders, including the NunatuKavut Community Council in Labrador. The Nunatsiavut Government, supported by Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the Inuit Circumpolar Council and Innu Nation, has been clear that the NunatuKavut Community Council is not an Inuit collective and does not hold rights under section 35 of the Constitution. Providing such funding diverts resources from recognized Indigenous governments, undermines treaty relationships and violates the Inuit Nunangat policy, which affirms that federal programs and resources for Inuit must flow through the four recognized Inuit treaty organizations.

Minister, what verification process does the government use when allocating —

Thank you for the question. For me, the domain of identity is challenging to speak to. As I said, the reason that consultation is there is to identify for ourselves what our identity is. When I say “ourselves,” I’m not speaking as a minister; I’m speaking as an Indigenous person. There is a complexity to that.

There are individuals who know where they are affiliated and individuals who know where they are not. There are some instances where there has been a determination by government of who should be affiliated and who shouldn’t. This is why I believe it is important that we empower communities to define for themselves who their members are and what their status is. That is my objective as a minister: to ensure that pathway exists. This is how we are able to work with partners because they have determined for themselves what their identity is.

Government cannot proceed with the continuity of trying to define who is a legislated member of a group. It is up to those groups to acknowledge who their members are and determine their future for themselves.

Honourable minister, given the concerns raised by the Nunatsiavut Government and others across Inuit Nunangat, what, if any, concrete steps will your department take to review existing funding agreements and prevent future allocations to unrecognized, self-proclaimed groups that do not represent rights-bearing communities?

Thank you for the question. As a minister, I want to be clear that I have instructed my department to ensure that we are progressing forward with partners who come to the table and tell us what their needs are, with partners who have a clear connection to the services we offer and with partners who have determined a path forward.

Some of these things in question are before the court. There are some things I can speak to and some things that I can’t for that reason, but I want to be clear: My objective is to ensure that the service delivery I provide is to Indigenous Peoples. That should be determined by them.