Meegwetch.
Elder Williams, Regional Chief Erasmus, National Chief Atleo, and everyone else who is here, thank you very much for coming.
As you know, I started this study because of the uproar across the country of thousands of people who went to healing projects and still need healing. I appreciate you coming to help in this. We've even had an emergency debate in the House of Commons because it's so important.
Just briefly, I'll tell you, you're the last witnesses in our study, and believe me, I've never been in a committee where things were almost so unanimous.
Mr. Erasmus, we'll help you with what you asked for at the end of your speech. We'll get into it in more detail in my questions.
Basically, all the witnesses pointed out that your programs are community-based. They're designed by aboriginal people for aboriginal people, which makes them totally different from government programs. There are thousands of participants in even one project, and there are 134 projects in 12 institutions. There are thousands who still need healing, and will for a number of years. The evaluation—which is sometimes rare in government programs—was very, very successful, of the whole program. Usually, you keep things that are so successful.
There were insufficient funds to transfer to Health Canada, if they were to even try to take over some of that. They were given only 40% of what you would have been using. Of course, their programs are totally different. Health Canada said their programs are different. The Health Canada statement said they couldn't do what the Aborignal Healing Foundation projects are doing. Yours are locally culture-sensitive, and they offer complementary programs.
So the political will may not be there from your discussions with the minister or the parliamentary secretary, but I can tell you, you couldn't sit through our committee hearings and hear things such as Elder Williams said, from a number of people, and the almost unanimous support of the Aborignal Healing Foundation, and not have political will here in this committee.
So we're going to forge on, but if the incomprehensible occurs, that this is not followed and it isn't funded for some more years to continue these valuable institutions and keep them from being disassembled, and if Health Canada tries to take on some of these things you were doing, totally different from their present skills and operations, what sort of things do you think need to be done to make that plan B a reality?
Obviously, their mandate would have to be changed. Probably the criteria for their funding would have to be broadened, and perhaps contracts with some of your best institutions, their mandate increased to allow community healing programs, and their geographical coverage increased. Maybe you could elaborate on that.
If there's more time, Mr. Williams, after Mr. Erasmus is finished, and if you want to go on to say the things that you didn't have time to say, please do so.