Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you to the witnesses.
Chief Woodhouse Nepinak, I'm not rebutting what's been said, but in budget 2025, the federal government outlined $2.8 billion for indigenous housing, and we are committed to working with all partners on that. We know housing has to develop more rapidly and that we need a more effective delivery process.
You commented twice that there's no strategy. We are working on the strategy with the indigenous community. I don't think it's fair to say there's no carve-out for the indigenous community. A $2.8-billion commitment for housing was carved out in budget 2025.
Further to that, last week there was a rural development conference in Prince Edward Island. That's the province I represent in the federal government. Secretary of State Buckley Belanger was in the province, and we had a tour of the Abegweit First Nation. There are a lot of good things happening at the Abegweit First Nation. Chief Gould and his team are creating commercial enterprises in the community. There are tourism opportunities. There are renewable energy opportunities.
We did a tour, and we saw solar fields and future windmill projects. A new health centre is going to get built there, and it will be used by the first nation and the surrounding communities in that area. Health care is a big challenge in P.E.I., as it is in a lot of small jurisdictions.
The other interesting fact we learned is that the median age of those in Abegweit First Nation is 27 years old, so there are lots of youth who need jobs, and they're building homes in the community. They're starting to fill the infrastructure gap you spoke about. It was a very positive meeting.
I know things aren't great everywhere, but Secretary Belanger was impressed with the progress that was being made at Abegweit First Nation. Are there lessons we can learn from those successful indigenous communities to make things better for other indigenous communities across the country?