Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee on Feb. 26th, 2009

[Neil Yeates]

Yes.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Will it be used entirely to replace existing schools?

[Neil Yeates]

I can't absolutely confirm that for you until we have a list of schools that have been announced.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

But is that the intention?

[Neil Yeates]

That is the intention, yes.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Therefore, if there were to be any additional schools—which there are not intended to be—would there be additional operational funding?

[Neil Yeates]

What happens, Member, when a new facility is built—say, on a reserve—is that we assess what the operating cost requirements are for that school and make provision for them.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Let me come at it from a different angle.

Currently, is there any operational money attached to the $200 million of capital money?

[Neil Yeates]

No.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Thank you.

If it is not to replace existing schools—and you don't know that yet—

[Neil Yeates]

Well, I've expressed what the intent is, but we'll be able to confirm that once they're announced.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

When will that be?

[Neil Yeates]

It will be over the next several weeks.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

“Several” could be 52 weeks.

[Neil Yeates]

No, it will be a few weeks—four to six weeks, let's say.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

So there will be no additional schools, essentially.

[Neil Yeates]

I don't expect so.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Thank you.

Ms. Cram, I would like to move on to something else, if you don't mind, because we have very little time.

In the budgets set aside for post-secondary programs off-reserve—which are delivered in post-secondary educational institutions accredited by the provinces—is there any money earmarked for programs aimed at training First Nations people to become health care professionals?

[Christine Cram]

There is a health-related program. I believe Health Canada has set aside $15 million for health care training.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Do you mean $15 million out of a total budget of $22 million?

[Christine Cram]

No, it is not from the same envelope.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

With all the different envelopes out there, it is not surprising that confusion exists.

Let me just digress for a moment. I participated in the creation of a program aimed at training health care professionals in Francophone communities outside Quebec. A national consortium was developed involving ten different post-secondary institutions. I believe this is a five-year program, and these institutions are training 2,500 health care professionals at most. As far as I know, there is nothing similar out there for the Aboriginal communities.

[Christine Cram]

Not to my knowledge, no.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Would it be possible for your Department to liaise with the Health Department to see how they went about developing such a program for Francophone communities outside Quebec? Perhaps you could use their model or, at the very least, take inspiration from their initiative in order to better meet the needs of Aboriginal communities in relation to health care professionals.

[Christine Cram]

We can certainly discuss it with the Health Department.