Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
WHEREAS the Government of Canada has eliminated funding to the Aboriginal Healing Foundation as of March 31, 2010;
AND WHEREAS the Aboriginal Healing Foundation was established in 1998 with a $350 million grant from Indian and Northern Affairs Canada to help former students who were physically or sexually abused in the residential school system;
AND WHEREAS the Aboriginal Healing Foundation provided funds to more than 130 groups and initiatives across the country to provide cultural healing services to indigenous people;
AND WHEREAS the funding supports critically needed community-driven healing and wellness programs that support communities, families and individuals who have begun their healing journeys;
AND WHEREAS the 16th Legislative Assembly has identified a vision for the Northwest Territories that speaks to “strong individuals, families and communities sharing the benefits and responsibilities” of a unified and prosperous Northwest Territories;
AND WHEREAS the loss of these programs would represent a significant setback for community-driven wellness and healing and would threaten the viability of community support programs that have been developed over the past decade;
NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Sahtu, that the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories calls on the Government of Canada to fully reinstate the funding previously provided to the Aboriginal Healing Foundation;
AND FURTHER, that the Speaker formally transmit this motion and the content of our proceedings today to the federal Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs for his consideration and action.
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. There is a motion on the floor. The motion is in order. To the motion. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think that every jurisdiction across the country was totally shocked and appalled with what happened with regard to the federal government’s decision to totally do away with the program, especially the critical needs of aboriginal people in Canada in light of the commission that has been established to look at residential school effects across the country. More importantly, Mr. Speaker, it is one of the societies of our country who is suffering the most, whether it’s through alcoholism, drug abuse or impacts of residential school, were aboriginal children and also their families.
Mr. Speaker, I think it’s fundamental that this Legislature sends a strong message to the federal government. I ask my colleagues on both sides of the House to support this motion, because the motion clearly states that we are asking the Speaker to transmit this motion to the federal Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs and send a strong message to the federal government that we do not support the decision that was made and to help those people. At the appropriate time, Mr. Speaker, I will seek a recorded vote. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. To the motion. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to say briefly that I want to thank Mr. Krutko for bringing this motion forward. I realize the impact that it will have in the Northwest Territories. Mr. Speaker, when we had a discussion earlier, I understood in the whole of Canada, the Northwest Territories had the highest number of residential school survivors in all of Canada. The Northwest Territories has a high percentage in terms of former survivors. Actually, right now, Mr. Speaker, there is about 80,000 survivors in Canada right now and the federal government needs to recognize the significance of the impact it had on our people in our communities and from the early policy of genocide, in terms of assimilation policy is still well and alive today and by saying that it’s a done deal, we’re going to now cut the funding back to community wellness and programs, it’s no longer an issue. Well, I’d like to remind them that I’m still alive. There are a lot of people still alive that have been impacted by residential schools that will not let them forget in terms of a policy that was so ill-conceived and implemented by this federal government that they think they can wipe it off by making payments to the people and forget about it. They should really reconsider this policy, re-implement, reinstate the funding back to the Aboriginal Healing Foundation, continue on its work. It should go on for another 100 years, this program here.
So I want to thank Mr. Krutko saying we should not let the federal government get off this easy. We did that for so many years. We were told not to say anything; actually, to be quiet. No longer do they have the rule over us or the strap in front of us and tell us to be quiet and do as they say. We are today a people standing up through the healing process saying what you did was not right and you must be reminded from time to time. By cutting off the funding, it goes to re-victimizing a lot of people in the Northwest Territories, especially the residential school survivors.
So I really urge the Government of Canada to reconsider, look at the policy the federal government made and see if it really means anything to them or if it was just good words for that year or that month and say yes, we got the aboriginal people on our sides, we can get their vote and keep us in power. They should really consider what they’re saying and really walk their walk in terms of this program that they offered us.
I thought maybe we did have a chance at reconciliation with the federal government and the number of churches we had to deal with, Mr. Speaker. It’s about nation building. Right now with this implementation of cutting out the funding, we’re really going a step back in terms of the good old days and begging for programs that are rightly ours.
So, Mr. Speaker, I also encourage Members to vote for this motion and thank Mr. Krutko for bringing the motion to the floor.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. To the motion. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to support the motion. I think that the federal government was premature in cutting off the funding. Healing had just begun, people were just getting comfortable speaking out and having an opportunity to do so along with all the other people that they grew up with in the residential school system and their families. The second generation, the younger children, are just as impacted as well, Mr. Speaker.
In my own riding alone, I spoke in the House about taking down the Deh Cho Hall. It was formally known as Lapointe Hall. It was part of the residential school system. They are actually demolishing it this summer and it’s about taking down walls, Mr. Speaker. Finally, we’re taking down the walls, but they still need time to reconcile it, to forgive the past and to continue with their healing journey and to get closure on it, Mr. Speaker.
I support the motion and it is really premature by the federal government and I hope they give serious consideration. I hope it’s debated in their House that healing does not happen in three to five years, Mr. Speaker. It does take time. It does take awhile for people to even have the courage to get up and say, yes, I need help. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. To the motion. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am in full support of the motion. I am a third generation residential school survivor. When my granddad went to school, I heard a lot of stories by my mother. This is like a slap in the face from the federal government, trying to pull the funding, trying to give us a quick injection of money. I think this is a really good step to force the hand of the federal government to reinstate the funding that is needed in our communities that still don’t have a full complement of social services in regard to seeing the doctors that are required.
So, Mr. Speaker, I’m in full support of this motion and I just wish to remind all our Members that once it’s a recorded vote, to all stand up and be counted. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Michael McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the mover and seconder for putting this motion on the floor. I think it’s an important issue that has plagued a lot of our residents of our different communities. I come from Fort Providence where we had a residential school for many years and there are still a lot of issues surrounding the facility and many people have returned there seeking closure to issues. I have witnessed firsthand the benefits of programs such as these that are spoken about in the motion, and I’ve seen how it affects people and how people are in real need of a methodology to deal with some of the challenges as a result of residential school. They also need the benefits of having counselling so that they can work through the issues and some of the traumas that they are facing. There also is a mechanism through the funding that was available previously to bring people together so they can share their experiences to talk and to laugh, and sometimes it doesn’t require professionals but it just brings a lot of people that can find comfort in each other’s company.
So, Mr. Speaker, I certainly will support this motion. I think it’s a good one. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Premier, Mr. Roland.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this subject has been raised in this Assembly a number of times by Members in this area that has been brought up today. I know Members were very concerned when the news came forward that, in fact, this program had been sunsetted and there wasn’t going to be a renewal of it. So we’re supportive as myself, as an individual from Inuvik Boot Lake, having two residential schools in our community and seeing both the negative and some of the positive impacts of that. I know that there’s a journey that needs to be completed. So I’m, in principle, supporting this.
I also say to those that are out there who have taken the steps to bring healing to themselves and their families, that even though this may not be in place, I would encourage them to continue on with their journey as individuals, because as we’ve done in the past, traditionally we’ve sought the support of our own people and the counsel of our elders. So I think that exists today and I would encourage them to continue on with that journey. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. I will allow the mover of the motion his closing comments. Mr. Krutko.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to thank the Members who have spoken to the motion to get the message to the federal government, because I think they have to hear where we stand on this issue. I think what we would like them to do is at least make an attempt to make an effort to find a system that will work for the people across Canada and in the Northwest Territories who are coping with the challenges we face day to day, but more importantly, the effects that some policy decisions have made and affecting the lives of people throughout the Northwest Territories and Canada.
So with that, Mr. Speaker, I’d like to ask for a recorded vote. Thank you.
