Obviously, COVID was a time that probably for most of us.... It's a blur, isn't it? During the time of COVID, we knew that indigenous communities would be very at risk of contracting COVID and potentially dying. In fact, outcomes from other indigenous populations were not so great, including in the United States. Of course, the government really needed to move quickly. One of the ways that we could move quickly—I have to compliment my predecessor, Minister Miller, on this work—was to ensure that communities had advance payments to be able to use in a way that they felt would be the best way to protect their communities.
The responses were diverse. Some communities did indeed set up forms of border control, if you will, and limited mobility. Other communities supported urban residents with food cards and other kinds of essential needs, so that elderly or at-risk people didn't have to go out. Others did a lot of public health information in culturally appropriate languages or traditions.
Val, you were really involved. Do you want to speak a bit about it?