Youth Forum on First Nation Housing | A Place to Call Home
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Transcript

(Music plays)

(Visual: The Winnipeg skyline appears on the screen, then cuts to a clip of cars driving across theProvencher Bridge.)

(Text on screen: Youth from First Nations across Manitoba gathered to discuss housing solutions for their communities.)

(Visual: Two people are walking through a building. There is a CMHC banner with a picture of a First Nations family on it in the background.)

(Text on screen: Winnipeg, MB)

(Visual: Two young adults, a man and a woman, are signing papers at a long table in a hallway in the same building. There is another woman reading an informational booklet. Two women are working on the other side of the table, organizing papers. The video cuts to a closer shot of the man signing papers. The next clip is in a large conference room. Many people are all seated at round tables, looking at the front of the room, where there are two projector screens. The video pans the room.)

00:19
I think it’s really important to educate the youth about this issue and they can actually take action and find out what’s going and try to help them resolve the issues in my community. Like, that’s my home town. Of course I’ve got to try and help somewhere.

(Text on screen: Nicole Thomas)
(Text on screen: Kinonjeoshtegon First Nation)

(Visual: Nicole Thomas, the woman speaking, appears. She is facing the camera and being interviewed against a plain wall. The video cuts to closer shots of the conference room, where we see several First Nations youth laughing and writing on paper. This cuts to a video of Nicole speaking to the room on a microphone. The video cuts back to Nicole’s interview as she finishes speaking.)

00:35
There’s a lot of problems that we’ve encountered today that our elders haven’t in the past and there’s problems that they had in the past that we haven’t encountered so the two generations should really communicate and asking the youth to be involved is very important because we are the future.

(Visual: A different table in the conference room is shown, with more people sitting around the table and writing on paper in front of them. This is followed by a closer shot of a young man in glasses laughing with the people at his table. The video cuts to the back of a man’s head, showing that the back of their baseball cap has NATIVE PRIDE written on it.)

(Text on screen: Amanda Shaw)
(Text on screen: Off-Reserve Member, Sagkeeng First Nation)

(Visual: Amanda Shaw, the woman speaking, is shown being interviewed. She is looking at the camera in front of a plain wall. The video cuts back to the conference room, where a table of young women are working together on a piece of paper in front of them. It cuts to two other groups of young men and women who are all working together to write on one long paper in front of them. Then we see a woman speaking to the room from a podium as the whole room watches her.)

00:55
What’s happening here in Winnipeg, Manitoba needs to happen straight across Turtle Island.

(Visual: The woman at the podium, Roxanne Harper, is speaking to the room. There is a table with some cups on it beside her. Behind her, there is a photo of four people in construction hats and vests being projected on a screen.)

01:00
The youth are only seeing possibilities. It’s as if there’s no limits to what they think we can accomplish.

(Text on screen: Roxanne Harper)
(Text on screen: Turtle Island Associates)

(Visual: Roxanne is being interviewed. She is facing the screen in front of a plain wall. The video cuts to a closer shot of her face as she’s interviewed. She is smiling as she talks. Then the video fades to white.)

(Text on screen: Be a part of housing solutions. CMHC.ca/CommunitySuccess)

(Music fades out)

(Visual: Text fades in. The Government of Canada, CMHC, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube logos fade in together after.)

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December 4, 2017

First Nation youth lead housing discussions

More than 60 First Nation youth gathered in Winnipeg recently to discuss the housing challenges facing their communities. The forum brought together 15- to 30-year-olds from across Manitoba to find solutions to a range of issues. They tackled everything from the lack of appropriate and affordable housing to homes in need of repair.

“There’s a lot of problems that we’ve encountered today that our elders haven’t in the past, and there are problems they encountered in the past that we haven’t, so the two generations should really communicate,” says Amanda Shaw of Sagkeeng First Nation.

Amanda and her peers spent 3 days hearing from speakers, participating in panel discussions and taking advantage of networking opportunities.

“I’m leaving with new friends, new experiences,” says Marlon Fisher, who attended from Bloodvein First Nation. “Experiences I would like to pass on to my reserve.”

On the final day of the forum, participants shared progress and best practices from their own communities. They also explored innovative designs and technologies that could help address housing needs.

“There’s a saying: If you have one twig on its own, it will crack. But if you have multiple twigs, it won’t crack. I’m hoping the whole community will come together and make that branch a strong branch,” says Marlon.

Guest speaker Reg Linski, the housing manager with Pinaymootang First Nation, is passionate about including youth in important conversations. He compares their involvement in the housing conversation with the building of an actual house.

“If you build a good foundation,” he explains, “that house is going to stand for years.”

The Winnipeg Housing Forum was part of a series of CMHC events to engage First Nation youth in discussions on housing. For youth interested in a housing sector career, assistance may be available through CMHC’s Housing Internship Initiative for First Nation and Inuit Youth (HIIFNIY). This youth employment initiative provides work experience and on-the-job training for First Nation and Inuit Youth.