Thank you.
To echo what Grand Chief Jerry Daniels said, it isn't enough money, period.
You start with a deficit from the very beginning, and from our perspective, to see that envelope of money and to know that we are now competing for $15 million across the country, knowing that there are 100 organizations to try to get resources to on the ground....
To me, the fact that there was a structure that was that underfunded and competitive was very disrespectful. You are asking people to say, “You're kind of indigenous, not indigenous enough to be trusted to be given resources to support people, so we're just going to make you dig really hard to get the data and report on it so that you can help people on the ground.”
The fact that this design even existed in some way, shape or form tells me that there's a huge problem with how this response has gone for everyone in the indigenous space, especially when it's so obvious that you have a section of individuals who are treated so differently.
We don't know when that money is actually going to reach organizations. There are multiple non-indigenous, not-for-profit agencies and national organizations that did not have to apply for their allocations either because they're providing essential services or because they're providing something that's needed. I think, even when you look at it within that scope, there's a clear issue with how this has been developed and framed. Why is that?