I will start.
In terms of how much money, our proposal will be for $850,000 for this year. That would be really helpful. That's not just from AHHRI. We're also working with the Health Human Resource Strategies Division, because this is not solely the responsibility of First Nations and Inuit Health Branch. This affects all of our physicians and all of our workforce, not just the aboriginal health human resources. What would be really helpful is if we could have multi-year funding agreements as well. Part of the big problem with AHHRI is that it is project-based, so it is not core operational funding for our organizations, none of us. And only last year were we able to get a two-year agreement, which means that every year in March, April, May we are trying to cash-manage to keep our programs going until we have secured funding and cashflow, which often doesn't begin until the summertime. It is very hard to run a national organization like that when we have employees too.
The other comment I would make in reference to that is it would be very helpful if there were a mechanism and funding by which our organizations could actually work together more effectively. Of the many common issues, one priority common issue is we need our students to stay in school, graduate high school, with the science and math skills that they need to enter further training. That applies to any health profession or para-profession. If there were a more effective way for us to work together and for the medical schools, the nursing schools, the undergraduate schools we work with to understand that is part of their problem too, it would be really key to advancing this agenda.