Thank you.
The federal government has a responsibility to adequately fund and support first-nations-developed customary adoption programs. At this point, they're not doing it in any kind of systematic fashion, nor are they developing any strategy in partnership with first nations around supports for adoptive parents or for birth parents on reserve. This is critical, because as you pointed out, Madam, we've already recognized for decades the importance of first nations children being placed with their communities whenever possible. So why aren't we doing everything to create conditions in which that happens, by supporting these parents?
As for the provinces, in several of the provinces and in the territories there are currently provisions for the recognition of customary adoptions. The provisions vary, but in general it requires that an elder be able to say “this was our traditional form of adoption” before the provincial court; that can be recognized. Many of the provinces and territories are moving forward—provinces, for example, such as British Columbia—and have had these provisions for a number of years, but they haven't been operationalized because of the lack of federal funding and support for adoption programs.