MPs’ call for emergency debate on Indigenous funding programs rejected
Idlout, fellow NDPer Leah Gazan say treatment of Indigenous children and youth has become a crisis
Nunavut MP Lori Idlout says she wants to ensure First Nations, Inuit and Métis children “are not being left behind” after her request for an emergency debate on changes made to Jordan’s Principle and Inuit Child First Initiative funding programs was rejected by House Speaker Francis Scarpaleggia Wednesday. Idlout seen here, during a public forum in April, was joined in her request by fellow NDP MP Leah Gazan. (File photo by Arty Sarkisian)
A call for an emergency debate in the House of Commons by two Indigenous MPs over what they say are “sweeping changes” to Jordan’s Principle and Inuit Child First Initiative funding was rejected Wednesday.
“How Indigenous children and youth are treated has become a national crisis,” Nunavut MP Lori Idlout said in the House of Commons Wednesday.
Idlout and fellow NDP MP Leah Gazan, of Winnipeg Centre, called for the debate in a joint letter to Francis Scarpaleggia, the new Speaker of the House of Commons.
“The federal government unilaterally made changes without considering the impacts on First Nations and Inuit children, youth and families. Jordan’s Principle is a legal obligation directed by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ruling to address gaps in health care for Indigenous children,” Idlout said.
The Inuit Child First Initiative funds non-profits that conduct social work in Nunavut communities, as well as a food voucher program for children aged 18 or younger.
It is the Inuit-specific counterpart to Jordan’s Principle, though it is not legally binding like Jordan’s Principle is.
“In Nunavut, over 15,000 Inuit children are struggling with starvation every day since the federal government cancelled the food voucher program,” Idlout said in a news release.
“Changes to the requirements to access Jordan’s Principle and Inuit Child First Initiative result in keeping First Nations and Inuit children in poverty and less healthy than non-Indigenous children,” Gazan added in the same release.
For months, leaders and advocates across Nunavut have called on the federal government to ensure the funding was continued. On March 8 — about three weeks before the Inuit Child First Initiative was to expire — then-Crown-Indigenous relations minister Gary Anandasangaree announced a one-year extension of funding on behalf of then-Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu.
Soon after, new requirements and restrictions on that funding became clear, putting the future of some organizations that depend on the initiative in limbo.
For instance, Piruqatigiit, an Iqaluit organization supporting Nunavummiut with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, autism and other developmental needs, depends on the initiative for 80 per cent of its funding. Others dependent on funding to varying degrees include Arctic Children and Youth Foundation, and Ilitaqsiniq.
The funding still requires parliamentary approval and has not yet started to flow to organizations.
The food voucher program was also changed so approvals are granted on a case-by-case basis rather than universally.
Researchers called the end of the universal food-voucher program “an imminent food security crisis.”
In the Commons on Wednesday, Scarpaleggia thanked Idlout “for her intervention on an extremely serious and vital issue,” but denied the request, stating “it did not meet the requirements of standing orders at this time.”
In an interview later, Idlout said, “For Inuit families, the situation is a crisis and it needs to be met urgently.”
She said she plans to meet with the government ministers involved with the program “so that we can ensure that First Nations, Inuit and Métis are not being left behind.”
This failure of the House Speaker (Francis Scarpaleggia) to allow a debate on the topic of Indigenous funding is downright alarming.
I certainly hope that Scarpaleggia’s cold response does not set a precedent for Indigenous Affairs and Indigenous Reconciliation under our new Prime Minister, Mark Carney.
Indeed, the Trump-related concerns (e.g. bizarre roller-coaster tariffs, ongoing threats to sovereignty, and now arm-twisting towards vendor lock-in into vastly overpriced US military hardware including F35 fighter jets and a worrisome Golden Dome system that will only serve to make US corporations even richer) are not a license to sweep Indigenous concerns under the rug.
I would bet that Scarpaleggia has never actually spent time in Nunavut. Maybe he should be invited to spend a week (or longer) in Nunavut and visit some families living in public-housing units.
Too bad we voted for the member of a non-party… this is the fruit of our stupidity.
Get used to it.
Sounds to me like the Speaker followed the rules. He’s not denying debate entirely, just saying it doesn’t meet the requirements under the Standing Orders at the moment. An MP can move to suspend the Standing Orders and as long as the House votes in favour, then whatever they want can be done. Maybe the MPs should’ve moved a suspension of the Standing Orders to allow the debate to proceed?
If Mr. Scarpaleggia does come to Nunavut he can not be blamed for people who wreck
their own houses and neglect their children!!!
It has been this way for many years .
I blame our elected people, and southern advisers for a lot of this Nunavut B.S. .
Hiding and doing nothing, making big money.
I voted Liberal … I dont think we’re getting the JP back.
“In Nunavut, over 15,000 Inuit children are struggling with starvation every day since the federal government cancelled the food voucher program”
Talk about an inflated use of hyperbole. NDP are known for this.
Reflexive hyperbole has been the defining feature of Lori’s politics since day one. I truly can not fathom how she was re-elected.
Hands up if you’d like to know what Ilitaqsiniq does with monies it receives from the Inuit Child First Initiative.
I know I would.
look, they have over 20 employees to pay and a fleet of expensive trucks to maintain. Of course they need funding earmarked for food security…
And that swanky office space they rent and paid close to 3/4 million to design in Rankin. Looking successful is expensive.
I wonder if MP Idlout would have more juice if she crossed the floor.
Think about Lori’s open hostility toward mining. Which is really hostility toward economic development and prosperity for Inuit. So, while she cries about an urgent economic crisis we might wonder how she plans to address that? In true NDP fashion of course, indiscriminatly throwing federal dollars at people. She has no other play. There is no ability to problem solve here beyond increased entitlements. How did we elect such an unserious person?
Welcome to life as a member of an unofficial party. Nunavut should get used to seeing their MP whistling into the wind and being ignored.
Well, if there is one thing Ms. Idlout is good at, is looking angry and indignant. Problem is, it gets old.
I’m 64 year old Inuk and I know many people don’t think our decisions don’t matter. It’s time we take responsibility for our stupidity and choices- it was pretty obvious that if we elect an MP without an official party status we will be left out when important issues need to be resolved and decisions will be made for us.
I like Lori but I like Lori but we have to get use to getting nothing for the next 4 years from the Federal Govt with an NDP MP.
Jimm, Nunavut did well with the NDP support. The bandwagon on which much of the country followed the two federal party option result has much weaken Canada, Canadians and has strengthened much the corporate-state, aka fascism.
time to cross over to liberals
The people of Nunavut had a chance to vote in a Liberal MP, and they did not.
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Why do the liberals feel so entitled to get another seat: they had a chance to win it same as anyone else and they lost it.
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A lot of people like to harp on and on about NDP entitlement and arrogance etc. since the election but no one ever calls out the constant discussion of Liberals feeling like they are owed this seat even when they lost it. How arrogant do you have to be to lose and think you should get your way anyways despite the result?
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If the people of Nunavut wanted a liberal, they would have voted for one. Time for the Liberals to get over it. They could have run a better candidate or on a better platform for Nunavut and things would have been different.
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Let’s accept the results and move on without whining for the next few years.
Kilikvak was successful in getting JP included in the Liberal platform…
Idlout and Gazan know better – they knew their request for debate did not meet the threshold and are out there to grab a headline, which Nunatsiaq News fell victim.
https://www.ourcommons.ca/procedure/procedure-and-practice-3/ch_15_3-e.html
There are the rules. Too bad Nunatsiaq News did not do the research necessary. Jim Bell would have never let this story see the light of day.
For the past 5 years, Nunavut’s growth in Gross Domestic Product averaged out to be the 5th highest in the country.
In 2024, Nunavut’s GDP grew by 7.5%, the highest rate of growth in the entire country.
What that means is that economic activity here is growing; more and more money is being spent and made within the territory, and we are on the road to prosperity.
Any enterprising Canadian, looking at this picture, might well conclude that Nunavut is the place to be, and certainly not a place to bring their children to be fed by others.
It could well be very true to say there are 15,000 children in Nunavut that are not adequately fed. That means that many of our people are being severely marginalized, including our MP.
If that is the case, a radically different emergency session of Parliament would be in order.
I think our MPs should try noodling over why it is that so many of our people are not able to participate in the economic life of our territory.
Why is it, when there are so many opportunities for people to earn good money to feed themselves and their families, that they do not?
Could it be that our society has not properly prepared and oriented our young people to take advantage of opportunity?
Might this all have something to do with people, habituated by 3-4 consecutive generations of getting by on handouts, now choosing to rather sit around and wait for more easy money from Ottawa for doing nothing?
And if this is all true, how do you fix it? With more handouts?
You do realize that the GDP here is highly inflated from government spending.
An old boney starving polar made headline news around the world some years ago. Thus will wait for Nunavut’s MP to show the 100s of photos from the 15,000 Inuit children in malnourished stages of starvation, for the presses to roll non stop headlines.
Even without the photos. Nunavut’s MP won’t have to wait long before the government steps in with cash in hand to help. As, the dependence on government for everything is locking into place. So expect the new Canada Government to tap Nunavut’s MP with the solution to have money back flowing again.
The carrot, is to get all to sign up for basic guaranteed income, digital ID, carbon credits and social credit score. But will she help implement a modernized and digitalized “Pass System” from 1849?
Lori, get off the soapbox with your hyperbowl statements and lets see some actual progress for NU, not more short-term handouts.
Economic development and making sure kids attend and perform at school is what is needed. Don’t try to tell me well they cant go to school without JP funding.
Show me if that’s the case because attendance rates here in the West didn’t improve, graduation rates didn’t improvie. If you want the JP system don’t scream and make up statements about 15,000 kids starving.
Take the JP system, and suggest meaningful changes that tie money to progress of something. A reportable item, employment , school attendance, training or school enrollment + attendance.
There’s just so much you could do with it other than make things up.
Why should tax payers foot the bill for these food voucher programs? It doesn’t make sense that our taxes go towards subsidizing the companies who jack up the prices due to the vouchers being handed out. There should be a review on whether this program actually makes a difference and the reasons surrounding why the entire Nunavut communities need these vouchers in the first place. They can’t rely on vouchers forever, that doesn’t make sense! It’s the GN who should be enabling people to get out of the cycle of unemployment in their own territory not the entire Canada subsidizing these vouchers..
Push for handouts because it’s easy.
Try coming up with another solution, like instead of handouts, parents take parenting classes or money management classes or cooking or health or home improvement. Something to better their lives instead of constantly relying on others for support.
Someone posted on Facebook today asking for food for he and his kids as he doesn’t have money for another 2 weeks. What the heck!? How do you have custody of your kids if you can’t manage your money properly to ensure they are fed. What are you spending THEIR child tax money on?!?!
I’ll have 10 children and get my $5000 a month plus my salary or social assistance and make more than a full time employee. Pretty damn good deal. I make $150 a year and I qualify for the $500 a month. My child is on a spectrum and I get support for this and this is where I really appreciate the support. Yes the food voucher is appreciated but there is no balance between the working class and people on public assistance.
elbows up right… ndp is a joke and not even a offical party.
Laziness in the population allows governments easy outs with things, the equality to access health care (Jordan’s P), etc. The stone on which signed agreements are not broken is nonexistent. Only an active organized outspoken public ensures that.
The “Wet shelter” in Iqaluit had more attention than hungry people, more than people who have “Mental Health” issues, i guess targeting drunks was easier and they know it will always be there with Escorts coming and staying to be drunken and ask for money and after you with everything