Mr. Chair, obviously I'm not prepared to get into an analysis of this. We haven't studied each one of these bills in any great detail, especially the governance one of a few years ago.
It might be interesting for the committee to know that quite a few years ago we did a study on accountability of first nations to the federal government. I guess if I could leave you with one thought, it would be that accountability is more than just reporting, and accountability is more than audit.
Accountability is about a relationship between two people. There has to be good trust. There has to be cooperation. There has to be consultation. People have to have a desire to make these things work. If we fall back into believing it's just the Auditor General or somebody auditing the money, that to me is not really about accountability. Yes, the government transfers a lot of money into these first nations, but it's about what is being accomplished at the end of all of this.
I can say quite frankly that in many of the reports we have issued--and we have a status report coming next Tuesday that will look at 37 of the recommendations we've made in first nations communities--there are serious issues there. I think most people would agree that there are unacceptable conditions. Often the department does not know what the conditions are, and they're not making the progress that one would expect. It's about how the department as well is measuring its outcomes, and what the performance indicators are. In order to do that well, it requires the cooperation of first nations communities.
To me, saying that we're going to send the Auditor General in to audit isn't accountability, quite frankly. We may have fundamental differences of opinion on that. It's a lot more than producing 200 reports a year. It's really about establishing relationships. It's also putting the practices and the institutions in place in those communities that will support their own development and will support their accountability to their people. That's why we have been supportive of the idea of a first nations auditor general, because that goes to the whole idea of building institutions.