Report Annex: Responses from the Canadian Government I. Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada II. Environment and Climate Change Canada III. Health Canada IV. Indigenous Services Canada V. Natural Resources Canada VI. Ontario Government VII. Yukon Government 1 I. Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada September 29, 2020 Dear Ms. Deif and Ms. Rall: Thank you for your letters of June 29 and July 6, 2020, addressed to the Honourable Carolyn Bennett and Parliamentary Secretary Gary Anandasangaree, regarding Human Rights Watch’s research on climate change and the right to food. As Minister of Northern Affairs, I have been asked to respond on their behalf. I recognize the important work being done within your organization on food security and climate change and appreciate you sharing your findings. As demonstrated, food security is a complex and multijurisdictional issue requiring a range of collaborative solutions. Human Rights Watch plays an important role in ensuring that Indigenous rights to food are recognized and respected. The Government of Canada launched the Arctic and Northern Policy Framework in 2019. It is a strategy developed between multiple federal departments, provinces and territories, and Indigenous governments to address the economic, social, environmental, infrastructure, and climate change needs of northern communities. This Framework outlines goals and objectives toward a shared vision where northern and Arctic people are thriving, strong, and safe. One of the objectives is to ensure the Canadian Arctic and northern ecosystems are healthy and resilient, addressing environmental challenges that have an impact on Arctic and northern environments and peoples. Enclosed in this letter, I have provided responses to the questions outlined in your correspondence addressed to Parliamentary Secretary Anandasangaree. I look forward to ongoing opportunities to work collaboratively on shared initiatives. Sincerely, Hon. Daniel Vandal, P.C., M.P. 2 Enclosure: Questions and Answers 1. How is your Department currently monitoring, or supporting communities to monitor the ways in which climate change is impacting First Nations’ right to food, including access to harvested foods and healthy, store-bought food? - Do you monitor distinct impacts on marginalized groups within a community, at the intra-household level, like women, children, older people, and people with disabilities? - Where are results of the monitoring reported? How do communities receive this information? Climate change is a complex issue, and Canada’s whole-of-government approach spans multiple departments playing an important role in monitoring environmental change. Within Crown‒Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, there are a number of programs which support environmental monitoring in collaboration with Indigenous communities: - The Indigenous Community-Based Climate Monitoring Program supports community-led projects to monitor climate and the environmental effects of climate change on traditional lands and waters. This program is distinctions-based and has specific funding for First Nations. As of June 2020, the program has supported 42 community-based monitoring projects led by First Nations. A number of these projects relate to tracking changes in important country foods, such as fish, caribou, and berries. These projects generate critical knowledge on the impacts of climate change at a community-level to inform local climate adaptation efforts. - The Climate Change Preparedness in the North Program funds climate change adaptation projects in Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Nunavik and Nunatsiavut. The program has funded numerous projects related to climate change and food access including the following projects - Yukon: - Linking a Changing Climate with a Changing Traditional Diet: Maintaining Our Nutrient Intake in Yukon; - Kluane Watershed Salmon Climate Change Adaptation; - Permafrost Mapping and Food Security Vulnerability Assessment in Jean Marie River First Nation; - Carcross-Tagish First Nation Food Security Adaptation Project: Community Garden Next Steps; and - Climate Change Preparedness Program: Traditional Food Security Project. - Northwest Territories: - Ka’a’gee Tu First Nation to address barriers to local food production in communities across the South Slave and Dehcho regions; and - Effects of climate change on subsistence hunting in the Hamlet of Ulukhaktok. 3 - Nunavut: - Building sustainable winter fisheries for Nunavut communities through SmartIce; - On-the-land knowledge exchange with Pangnirtung Young Hunters Program; and - Adaptation plan for fish habitat in Qamani’tuaq and Taloyoak. - Nunavik: - Maintenance and enhancement of char streams in Nunavik; and - Harvested food safety in Quaqtaq. - Nunatsiavut: - Instructing ocean literacy through kayak camps. - The Northern Contaminants Program (NCP) is the longest continuous research program in the Canadian Arctic and is recognized as a best practice model for involving Northerners in research and the integration of scientific and traditional knowledge. The goal of NCP is to reduce and eliminate contaminants in traditionally harvested foods and, thus, links closely to health and food security. NCP is run in collaboration with Indigenous organizations and provides information that assists individuals and communities to make informed decisions about their food use. Projects are community-driven, and each project is responsible for deciding how best to share the results with the community. 2. What policies or programs has your Department put in place to support First Nations in adapting to current and projected climate impacts on traditional food sources and access to store-bought food, including impacts to health and culture? - For example, what support is your department offering to First Nations looking to develop alternative local sources of food production? - Please provide program names, details or documents, if available. - How do climate impacts and food security monitoring results inform your department’s food policies and programs? For example, do you tailor measures to address how marginalized people already experience different levels of food insecurity and how they will be impacted by climate change? Similarly, how do the health impacts of pre-existing disparities in First Nations’ access to healthcare resources inform your department’s food policies and programs? Strengthening local food systems and improving access to food locally is central to food security. That is why Nutrition North Canada introduced a new Harvesters Support Grant in 2019 which supports Indigenous harvesting, food preservation, and food sharing activities in keeping with Indigenous customs and cultural practices. The Grant 4 helps alleviate the high cost of hunting and harvesting by providing $8 million dollars per year across 108 eligible isolated communities to improve access to traditional/country food. The Grant provides flexibility in funding to recipient land claim, self-government, and Indigenous organizations, allowing communities to determine their individual needs. Research and innovation projects are eligible under the Harvesters Support Grant, providing an opportunity to recipients to invest funding into understanding climate impacts on traditional food sources. Important partnerships between Crown–Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada and recipient Indigenous organizations have been formed throughout the design and delivery of the Harvesters Support Grant. These relationships have fostered broader discussions on food security, food sovereignty, and the challenges communities face around food access and availability. Communities have concerns over how climate will impact both the physical access into the communities with changing road conditions that can limit the ability to transport food and other goods, but also climate impacts on access and availability of traditional/country food. The Department continues to work closely with these Indigenous partners to continue to evolve a long-term vision for food security in isolated northern communities and to support solutions that improve access and availability of food in the North. Other federal programs exist across the Government of Canada that aim to address local food security, including programs around local food production. For example, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada provides the Local Food Infrastructure Fund, a five-year, $50 million initiative that aims to establish and/or strengthen local food systems through investments in local food infrastructure, targeted at community-based and non-for-profit organizations. More information can be found at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s website at: https://www.agr.gc.ca/eng/agricultural-programs-and- services/local-food-infrastructure-fund/applicant-guide/?id=1563476002321#toc1.0 3. How do projections for climate change in First Nations inform adaptation planning? - At department level, provincial office level, in communities? Is your Department putting in place contingency plans for climate change- induced food shortages? - Please provide examples, documents or other relevant information. - Where does this planning take place within the Department? - What steps is your Department taking to address the decreasing viability of winter roads as a transportation option for some remote communities, given the importance of this mode of transport for reducing costs of living in remote communities, including costs of food? - What