I can answer some of those questions, Mr. Russell. Thank you for the questions, and thank you, Chair, for the opportunity.
In terms of the LMN claim, that really is a claims answer that someone else in the department is going to have to give you. That's been before the department, I think, for 15 years or so. We'll have to get that answer back to you on where the Labrador Métis claim is within the system and what's next, what's happening on that.
In terms of where Métis rights policy generally is going, as you're well aware, the Supreme Court affirmed what many of us knew back in 2003, which is that Métis did have aboriginal rights. The federal interlocutor's office got authority back in 2003 to begin to explore Métis rights policy options. The first thing we had to do over there--the really urgent thing the Supreme Court said we had to do--was to begin a process of identifying Métis harvesters, identifying who had those rights. So for the past two or three years we've been working with Métis organizations, national organizations, and regional affiliates to do just that, and to put in place harvesting arrangements on the ground, both at the national level and working very closely with their provinces.
We have to come back and give longer-term recommendations on Métis rights based on what our research has found. We're prepared to do that, I think, in the course of the next few months.
In terms of the practical steps and trying to answer some of your questions around socio-economic policy, there is very limited Métis-specific social programming. So there is no Métis-specific post-secondary education; there is no Métis-specific health care or other programs that you happened to mention.
That said, though, the federal government invests about $1 billion for an office of aboriginal programming, which Métis people and Métis organizations can access. So while there isn't Métis specific programming in those areas, there are opportunities where Métis people and their organizations can draw down some of those federal programs.