Thanks so much, Mr. Chair.
Hello colleagues, and thank you to the witnesses for coming today.
Before I begin with my questions, I'd like to acknowledge that I'm speaking to you from Mi'kma'ki, the ancestral unceded territory of the Mi'kmaq people.
My first question—and I have two—is an open-ended question to anyone on the panel who would like to answer it.
As we know, COVID-19 can affect anyone, anywhere. We all know that all too well. Emerging research shows us that there are risk factors that make certain communities in our country especially vulnerable to this coronavirus, as the disease emerges with such speed, such cruelty. Due to consequences of systemic racism, geographic inaccessibility and historical injustices, many indigenous communities find themselves especially vulnerable in this pandemic.
Can you speak to two measures that you believe the government is doing well and two in particular that we need to change immediately? That would be very helpful. That would be my first question, Mr. Chair, and that's open to anyone and everyone on the panel.