Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you, Minister, for coming again before us. I want to echo the appreciation of having this time to answer questions.
I have a couple of things. I am going to ask my questions all up front as well.
The last time you were before us I made this comment. Although I understand that the Auditor General is going to be tabling a report on the B.C. treaty process and on specific claims, I want to reiterate my concern that there was no money allocated in the estimates for future budgets, and it is very difficult for those organizations to continue to operate with any degree of certainty. I would hope that there will be some early signal to those organizations because their funding runs out at the end of March. That is more of a comment.
The friendship centres do not operate under your ministry, but I wonder if you could talk about your commitment and your willingness to work with the Minister of Heritage, and whether or not there is some signal that further consolidation is going to happen with INAC, given that, for example, residential schools have now come under INAC's mandate. That is one question.
The second question is around the aboriginal healing fund. Of course, as you are aware, their funding also expires at the end of March. Under the residential schools, this has been an important part of the program, and there are some clear recommendations and analysis on what it will mean if future funds aren't bookmarked for that.
My next question is around economic development. In the main estimates there was a substantial reduction in access to capital and economic development, from a spending of $733.4 million in 2005-06 to a planned spending in 2008-09 of $286.7 million. My understanding, when you came before us in the past, was that other departments were taking some responsibility. I heard you say today that there was some effort to reconsolidate that under INAC. I didn't see it in the supplementary estimates, so I'm wondering where that money is, who's holding it, and what outcomes are anticipated for that.
My final question is on page 193 of the supplementaries, under the line, “Funding to support the administration of representative status Indian organizations”, I wonder if you could just tell us what that money is going to be used for.
That's it.