Thank you, Chair.
Thank you again, Auditor.
I will keep on with the same topic. In your report you reference the fact that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Department of Aboriginal Affairs could not come to an agreement on the definition of relevant documents. My understanding of the settlement agreement is that the definition of relevance was to be agreed upon by all the parties to the agreement, since churches and perhaps other organizations had similar obligations to disclose documents. In the absence of such an agreement and in the interest of ensuring timely implementation of the residential school settlement agreement, the Government of Canada developed its own working definition so that it could begin to disclose documents. To date, as you are aware, Canada has disclosed almost 3.7 million documents to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
In your opinion, should Canada have instead waited for the churches, legal counsel for former students, the Assembly of First Nations, and Inuit representatives to come to an agreement before disclosing any documents? Was the government caught in a bind here? Were the steps they've taken appropriate?