Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Chief Erasmus and Elder Williams. I also want to acknowledge the national chief for his presence here. I think it's a tremendous show of support for an important process.
I know I've reminded committee members of this before, but for both your benefits, perhaps I should mention I was a signatory to the agreement. I was a relatively new lawyer participating in that process for a firm out of Kenora I worked with, and I subsequently represented a number of clients in the ADR process, which now is known more commonly as the IAP. I was involved in drafting numerous future care plans that respected the individual needs of the survivor and made serious considerations for the impact it had on their families and the broader community.
I also appreciate, Chief Erasmus, that as part of your presentation today you expressed a willingness to work with Health Canada. I understand your principal position on this matter, and will continue to work with and through that, but I was wondering if you could discuss or allude to some of the things that you see. I know you mentioned that the resolution health support programs, or things that Health Canada had been doing prior to this new infusion of resources, almost $70 million, complemented the activities of AHF.
I have two questions, then. In communities in areas where I believe the 12 projects will continue, what do you think is the best possible way for the Aboriginal Healing Foundation and Health Canada to work together? How can they share infrastructure, resources, and capacity in these regards? And for the hundreds of other communities who never even had access to the Aboriginal Healing Foundation's programs, what recommendations might you give to Health Canada, as they continue to deliver in those programs? Could you perhaps comment on some of the priorities and on some of the culturally sensitive things they might entertain as they engage a broader first nations community across Canada and, from the perspective of the MP for Kenora, a number of isolated communities who have had real trouble accessing some of the services under any of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission ADR without great hardship, and the Aboriginal Healing Foundation?