Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister, for joining us today, and welcome to your departmental officials as well.
Minister, in these estimates, $2 million is being sent to the Department of Indigenous Services, seeking approval under vote 1c for the national indigenous procurement initiative. Previous departmental reports have shown zero progress being made. In fact, after the 2021 report showed zero progress, the 2022 report was rewritten so that the progress was hidden in a footnote, but there was still no progress made.
It is good to be able to stand up and say that you want more indigenous people involved in the procurement process, but it would seem that millions of dollars are going towards the administration of an initiative that is getting no results. There was a report from this committee in 2018 that may help. Perhaps you should take a look at it.
I'm wondering how you intend to make serious progress on this initiative, which appears to have been stalled.