Evidence of meeting #13 for Indigenous and Northern Affairs in the 40th Parliament, 3rd session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was program.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Bruce Stanton
Okay.
Thanks to both of you.
I'm sorry. Did I cut in there? Were you finished?
Director General, Settlement Agreement Policy and Partnerships, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
No, you didn't. Thanks.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Bruce Stanton
Thank you very much.
Thank you, Mr. Rickford.
Now let's go to Mr. Russell. Then there will be one final question by Mr. Dreeshen.
Mr. Russell.
Liberal
Todd Russell Liberal Labrador, NL
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you for coming and meeting with us on this very important issue.
Very quickly, when does the mandate of the resolution health support program end? Is there an end to your mandate?
Director General, Community Programs Directorate, First Nations and Inuit Health Branch, Department of Health
Our mandate is to provide supports throughout all phases of the settlement agreement, so there are common experience payments, the independent assessment process, truth and reconciliation—
Director General, Community Programs Directorate, First Nations and Inuit Health Branch, Department of Health
At this point in time, I think the end date for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, if I'm not mistaken—
Director General, Settlement Agreement Policy and Partnerships, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
It's 2014.
Director General, Community Programs Directorate, First Nations and Inuit Health Branch, Department of Health
—is 2014. I think that's as far as we go.
Liberal
Todd Russell Liberal Labrador, NL
Okay. Have you undertaken an evaluation of your particular program, the resolution health support program?
Director General, Community Programs Directorate, First Nations and Inuit Health Branch, Department of Health
Yes.
Liberal
Director General, Community Programs Directorate, First Nations and Inuit Health Branch, Department of Health
Yes, absolutely. The evaluation we were talking about just now was conducted in 2006, and all evaluations are posted on the web. We definitely—
Director General, Community Programs Directorate, First Nations and Inuit Health Branch, Department of Health
At this point, there hasn't been. The last one was in 2006. We redesigned the program in 2007 to be consistent with the provisions of the settlement agreement, and we built the recommendations into the program at that time. We've seen a consistent growth in that program, year over year, of over 100%.
Liberal
Todd Russell Liberal Labrador, NL
But there's been no formal evaluation since 2006? The most recent evaluation for the Aboriginal Healing Foundation was done in 2009 by INAC. INAC said it was a great program. It was doing great work. It was efficient. It was all these types of things. Would you say that the programs that the AHF offered and what you offer are complementary programs in many regards?
Director General, Community Programs Directorate, First Nations and Inuit Health Branch, Department of Health
That, indeed, is how we have described them. The resolution health support program provides professional counselling, cultural supports, and elder supports.
Liberal
Todd Russell Liberal Labrador, NL
Would you agree that there is some validity in offering these complementary approaches to some very complex issues?
Director General, Community Programs Directorate, First Nations and Inuit Health Branch, Department of Health
What we are doing now is following through on the government's commitment under the settlement agreement to ensure that these services—
Liberal
Todd Russell Liberal Labrador, NL
Okay, but I'm just asking, would you agree that there is a need for these complementary types of services?
Director General, Community Programs Directorate, First Nations and Inuit Health Branch, Department of Health
There also are other programs, as I indicated in my remarks.
Liberal
Todd Russell Liberal Labrador, NL
No. I'd just like a yes or a no. I'm just asking a simple question: do you think there's a need for these complementary—
Director General, Community Programs Directorate, First Nations and Inuit Health Branch, Department of Health
There are many programs that are complementary to the resolution health support program, including the ones that are also offered by Health Canada, as I described earlier.
Liberal
Todd Russell Liberal Labrador, NL
You've all agreed that the Aboriginal Healing Foundation was doing great work.
Did I get it right that you said you are now dealing with 60 of the organizations that had contracts with the Aboriginal Healing Foundation?
Director General, Community Programs Directorate, First Nations and Inuit Health Branch, Department of Health
Yes. What I said is that about 60 contribution agreements are in play at this time in terms of whether we are increasing the value of the ones that we already funded or are having a look at where there might be gaps.