Thank you very much for your presentation.
When the Auditor General appeared before us a couple of weeks ago, she commented on the provision in the Accountability Act that would extend the jurisdiction of her office effectively into the voluntary sector dealing with grants and contributions to government. I'd like to get your view on that. She was a little concerned about it from a resource point of view--consistent with comments she made in the past on concern about the amount of reporting that first nations have to do, that we ensure this is a streamlined process and doesn't just add further burden to a complex system.
So I'd like to get your view on whether the reach of her office would extend into the voluntary sector--if that is troublesome, or how that would combine with streamlining the reports you have to give.
I'm also very interested in your views on long-term funding. It can be multiple-year funding, but it can also be funding against certain criteria that are assessed annually but well before a termination date--sort of an evergreen funding process that could be confirmed with enough lead time, so people could plan properly and, if necessary, give proper notice to employees and such, which is always a very difficult thing when you're funding year to year.
I'd like to get your views, and a little more on that funding timing issue.