I will open the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development of Tuesday, November 28, 2006.
Committee members, you have the orders of the day before you. The first item of business will be pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), a study on expenditure plans and the effectiveness of their implementation by the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development.
The Honourable Jim Prentice, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, is with us until 10 o'clock, and we have further witnesses from the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. We have Michael Wernick, deputy minister; Suzanne Tining, associate deputy minister; and Jim Quinn, acting assistant deputy minister, corporate services.
Thank you, witnesses, for appearing.
We'll have a presentation by the minister, and then we'll be asking questions. As I said earlier, the minister will have to leave at 10 o'clock, so please address those questions to the minister right away so that he can answer them and then be on his way.
Mr. Minister, thank you very much for attending this meeting.