Great, thank you.
Thank you to the witnesses for coming.
Mr. Williams, I just wanted to point out that if you could submit your full presentation to the chair and the clerk, we will all get to see your full presentation.
The study, when it was laid out, was talking about a study on opportunities for aboriginal persons in the workforce and supports available to them. We can all agree that there are plenty of opportunities for first nations, Inuit, and Métis in the workforce. I don't think we need to talk about that. There are sufficient studies out there indicating that, particularly in rural, remote, and northern communities, the aboriginal population are the ones who are there and available but they don't meet the requirements of industry for a variety of reasons. So I'm just going to take off the table the opportunities. We all agree there are opportunities. There are lots of studies out there that support this, lots of studies that talk about investment in education being the way to move forward.
I want to come to the barriers. There are a couple of points that you have all made but I just want to reiterate those.
My question is this. Is there a recognition by the funding programs that are available that in many cases the first nations, Inuit, and Métis who come to use, for example, the ASETS program, are perhaps older? They're not fresh out of high school. They perhaps have multiple barriers to employment, will often have dependants requiring child care, and may have a very spotty work history. In your view, does the funding currently available to you address those issues sufficiently?
I'll start with you, Ms. Hunt.