I think the short answer is yes. I mean, we are spending more towards the kinds of things that make equity more foreseeable in first nations communities, but I would say that the gap is still very large. I think the principle of truth, equity and self-determination, which is how the department governs itself, requires us to be fiercely honest with ourselves—all of us, regardless of our political stripe—that Canada is a colonial country; that we have significantly and intentionally underfunded indigenous people over 150 years; and that we are all now trying to figure out how best to get through this together.
Investment is a huge piece of it. I am grateful for a Prime Minister who has put reconciliation at the core and in fact at the centre of all our mandates as ministers, and certainly with our caucus, but it will take consistent and predictable investments and relationships and changes in law to lead to the kinds of trusting relationships that we hope to have. The trust is growing, and it's beginning, but we live in a system that can change rapidly. Indigenous people frequently talk to me about their fears if those kinds of consistent investments are not continued.