Thank you very much. That's a great segue into my next question.
As you noted, it was reported that the value of government contracts awarded under the program has risen sharply, to $862 million in the 2022 fiscal year, which is up from $170 million in the five years prior to that. According to the 2022-2023 ISC report on the mandatory minimum 5% target, it was reported that 6.27% of all contracts were awarded to indigenous businesses. On the face of it, it would appear that the government has already exceeded the targets that they set for 2024-25. However, as we all know, the devil is often in the detail, which is why our committee undertook this study.
From bombshell reports over the summer, we know that this government has done little to no vetting of businesses to ensure they qualify as indigenous businesses, and my colleague has done a great job in digging into that. When we were passing this motion to study this program, we were told by government members that we didn't understand the purpose of this program and that it was running just fine and accomplishing the purpose for which it was created.
Are you concerned at all that the current government sees no issues with the abuse that has been uncovered, particularly the so-called Rent-a-Feather schemes or the lack of concern about verifying the indigenous identity of businesses before giving them access to the program?
I'll turn to Chief Ducharme.... I'm sorry; it's Chief Bernard.