I'll bring it back to an earlier statement that was made, which was about the lack of data. The data exists; you're right, there is a lot of research out there. What there isn't is comparable indicators nationally on things like diabetes and obesity. The Inuit provide a very good example. The National Diabetes Surveillance System collects data on diabetes rates for Inuit in the Northwest Territories and in Nunavut. Santé Quebec collects the data in Nunavik. In Labrador Nunatsiavut nothing is collected, so we don't know. We don't know what's going on within Inuit communities from east to west to know whether or not certain interventions are working.
The other thing is, yes, there are programs that exist and have been going for years. However, we need to have those programs evaluated. We need to evaluate the existing public health interventions that are related to diet and physical activity to know whether or not those would be promising practices that can be replicated in other communities across the country.
The other thing we need to keep in mind, if you want a specific recommendation from me, is that a one-size-fits-all solution isn't going to work. There is a strong need to have community-driven solutions that address.... We're talking about a million aboriginal people in Canada. There are 600 first nations. There are 52 Inuit communities, and there are one million individuals. Each community is different, and what works in one community may not work in another. So any programs, policies, or services that are developed need to be flexible enough to allow for community variability so that communities know they can do what works. And we need stable funding to ensure that happens.