Helping Montreal’s Indigenous community access birth certificates, other ID
Posted October 18, 2023 4:23 pm.
Last Updated October 18, 2023 6:34 pm.
Montreal groups supporting Indigenous People in the city set up an outreach clinic Wednesday to help the community access important documents like federal and provincial IDs.
The one-day outreach clinic at the Projets Autochtones du Quebec shelter was a one-stop shop for Indigenous People without documentation in Montreal.
“I wouldn’t know where to go,” said Benjamin Segal, who used the service Wednesday. “I’d have to go all the way in the middle of the city, here, there, walking around, asking everyone. At least over here, everything’s in the house, all the floors.”
Hosted by the Montreal Indigenous Community Network, the shelter helped people obtain birth certificates, secure Indian Status certificates, Quebec health insurance cards and more.
“The community organizations that we work with express the need or maybe express on behalf of community members that it’s becoming increasingly difficult for them to get services,” said Leilani Shaw with the Montreal Indigenous Community Network.
“So I think our solution for that was really coordinating to be able to do a lot of the IDs and processes for birth certificates and RAMQ in house directly at the organizations where clients and community members are to really alleviate the bureaucratic burden that’s placed on the individual, so to make it a little bit easier and accessible.”
Representatives from federal and provincial departments, as well as non-profit organizations, were on hand to assist.
“Often they might be missing one very important card to get the other cards because in most cases you need your birth certificate to get all the other cards,” said Leo Buckles with Projets Autochtones du Québec. “So it’s important to know that they have a safe space for them to come and they feel welcome.”
Buckles says the initiative was extremely successful.
“What I heard earlier is that there’s been at least 20 people who’ve come in to do their birth certificates,” he said. “There’s been at least 15 for the RAMQ cards… Last year we had about 50 people in total that used the service. So I imagine between now and four o’clock when we’re finished, we’ll have definitely 50 people in total.”
Segal says he was able to get in and out in less than an hour.
“It’s hectic up there but there’s all kinds of people telling me where to go – upstairs, downstairs, middle floor,” he told CityNews. “And it was really quick. I’d been here for maybe about a half an hour, bam bam bam, signing this, signing that. Yeah, it was very fast.”
The mobile clinic was held in partnership with Service Canada and seven other federal and provincial services – with all fees waived. This was the first time the mobile clinic was held at this location. The next one will be taking place Dec 12.
“And now, I’ll have everything,” said Segal. “I exist. I could walk into any doctor’s office, any dentist office, and everything’s paid for. Give me a chance, a second chance at life.”
