QUESTION PERIOD — Ministry of Environment and Climate Change
Collaboration with Indigenous Groups
March 3, 2022
Minister, your mandate letter reflects the importance of partnering with Indigenous nations to fight climate change, conserve wildlife and safeguard freshwater. The Indigenous Guardians program is one such successful example.
I look forward to your establishment of a Canada water agency, especially as Saskatchewan has expertise in freshwater infrastructure and related agricultural issues. The First Nations University of Canada, the University of Regina and the University of Saskatchewan also present opportunities to blend Western science and traditional knowledge toward innovative solutions in managing freshwater resources. Could you please comment on the value of Indigenous-led stewardship and the need to continue to work collaboratively with the Indigenous partners in the long term to protect our environment?
Thank you very much for the question, senator. As you probably know, I was Heritage Minister before becoming Environment Minister and, as such, I was responsible for co-implementing the Indigenous Languages Act with Métis, First Nations and the Inuit people. Our government has increased funding for Indigenous languages 25 times compared to what it was before we came into power in 2015.
I also co-developed with Indigenous leadership the proposal that became the bill that created the first-ever National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
The same goes for the environment. You talked about the Indigenous Guardians program. I believe it is a great success. Frankly, there’s no doubt in my mind that we cannot move forward in creating new protected areas in Canada without full engagement at the table with Indigenous people. In fact, last week, for the first time in the history of our country, we signed an MOU with the Nunatsiavut Government — involved from the get-go — to look into the creation of a new protected area.
Historically, when we’ve done that, we started working on new protected areas and then, somewhere along the way, we said it would be nice to engage with First Nations or Indigenous people. Last week, for the first time ever, we did it from start. That will be our model going forward.
