A northern Saskatchewan member of parliament had a chance to directly ask questions of the minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs this month.
As the NDP MP for Desnethe-Missinipi Churchill River, Georgina Jolibois wants updates on how the new Liberal government is dealing with issues that were highlighted after the La Loche crisis.
Last week, Jolibois sat on the first Indigenous Affairs parliamentary committee since the fall election. Jolibois and her NDP colleague Romeo Saganesh replaced Charlie Angus, who was away due to an urgent family matter.
Joliois didn’t squander the opportunity to ask Minister Carolyn Bennett a long list questions.
“There were some specific requests made when you visited regarding the additional RCMP members to work with the schools and the reserve and town, mental health, and the support for PTSD as well as the reinstatement of Project Venture youth initiative,” she said.
“What can I tell the people when I come home this spring?”
Bennett’s response covered some ground, saying the feds want to put money towards the friendship centre and land-based healing programs that are proven to be effective, like Project Venture.
But with the RCMP, Bennett said their services are subcontracted to the provinces which puts the onus on Saskatchewan’s government. She did add that the public safety minister will ensure La Loche can move forward.
Jolibois is also pushing to make sure former students at Timber Bay and Ile-a-la-Crosse’s boarding schools don’t get left out of the amends made through Residential school settlements.
Bennett says the Ministry of Justice will have to be involved in this process.
“We are trying to figure out how we can get out of court or stay out of court and be able to do whatever we can to do right by those children. The abuse and what they’ve lived through and the consequences to Canada are unacceptable and we’ve got to understand, really, what happened and how we can fix it,” she said.
While that discussion is in the works, former students in the Ile-a-la-Crosse area are sending letters addressed to the minister. Jolibois has encouraged them to outline their stay in boarding schools and the kind of treatment they got.
The goal is to reinforce their claim.
At that committee meeting, Bennett said her government will spend an extra $40.7 million on Indian and Residential School Settlement agreements before the new budget gets into action.
She says the Liberals have made progress on this mandate, but they still have settlements to deliver.
“The department will continue to process and resolve the independent assessment process claims in a timely manner through the negotiated settlement process,” Bennett said.