Human Resources committee  Mr. Chair, Mr. Butt will know that I won't enter into the hypothetical, but the range of potential, at the one end of the spectrum, is of course termination, and that is explicit to staff in the policy and in the code of ethics. That obviously is a very severe measure and has to

Human Resources committee  I would say that throughout that spectrum, for individuals who are part of the “pay at risk” system, that element would be brought into play. Behaviour in this area could play into decisions about promotion and advancement, and there are measures such as suspension that can be a

Human Resources committee  I was just going to say, Chair, that I don't want to be evasive, but I think I have to regard that as hypothetical. I wouldn't be comfortable in venturing into that area at this stage. You indicated “should” something happen, and “if”. Let me just say that our action plan invol

Human Resources committee  I'm not in a position to speak hypothetically about what the government would or wouldn't do in a situation—

Human Resources committee  Well, the circumstances itself are hypothetical, and I'm not in a position to comment on that area. I just don't want to venture into that hypothetical realm at this stage.

Human Resources committee  I would only add, Minister and Chair, that some of the changes involved the community entity model and shifting the program development through them. That did result in some of the early delays as the communities shifted to that model. That is now done. That behind us, we anticip

Human Resources committee  Mr. Chair, the two departments came to an agreement on this transfer so that the delivery of the services would better match the clients’ training needs.

Human Resources committee  The funds are distributed by the Kativik administration according to its own priorities, to match placement opportunities and to respond to the institutions that provide the training.

Human Resources committee  The companies will be involved to a great extent, but Kativik will make the decisions, according to the employment needs and opportunities.

Human Resources committee  I was just going to add, Chair, that I met recently with my provincial counterparts of deputy ministers of social services, and we had visiting us and speaking to us the members of the panel the minister referred to earlier. One of the members of that panel, Mark Wafer, was descr

Human Resources committee  I think as well, Chair, there's no single program other than the youth employment strategy that is specifically targeted at youth—although, as was discussed earlier, the first nations job fund, just from the demographics of that, is targeted at 18- to 24-year-old aboriginals on r

Human Resources committee  I would just reply very briefly, Chair, that before the department spends any money on any program, we make very sure that the appropriate accountability and performance measurement regime is in place. But I would also just refer to the minister's comments that the government fe

Human Resources committee  The funding for the first nations job fund, Chair, is not the same as the funding for the assets program, but it will be distributed, we hope in the vast majority of cases, to what we refer to as assets holders. These are the service providers—there are about 80 of them across th

Human Resources committee  I would just say those negotiations with the provinces on the affordable housing agreements are beginning. Our colleague, Steven Mennill, from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation could add detail if you wish.

Human Resources committee  Perhaps I could begin and then Mr. Vermaeten could add some detail on the skills and partnership fund. There are three principal programs in the department targeted at improving the employability and skills of aboriginal Canadians. The first is the assets program, which is what