Thank you, all of you, for being here today. Thank you so much for sharing your concerns, for sharing your stories. They're very informative and very heartfelt.
To me, so many questions have been asked that have been very specific. I'd like to try to take it to a different level. I can't imagine what it's like being in your communities. The only way that I can relate is when you talk about the urban versus rural reality. I have a very rural riding. I know that so many times they try to overlay urban methods and processes onto the rural areas, and you're right, it doesn't work. Rural people know how best to serve rural people in the most effective way.
When the minister was here, I posed the question to her. We have this operational budget and we have this grant budget. The grant budget is massive, and the operational budget is a pittance. How do people serve their people when their hands are tied because they have to apply for these grants? I imagine that you would agree that if we could take that massive grant budget and put it into the operational side, and say, here is the budget you have to work with; you set the priorities as to how you feel that budget should be allocated.... In other words, it's self-determination.
I guess I'd like to ask you this. It's something I am certainly going to advocate for, and I hope the committee will come along on this at some point. If you had that ability, how would you prioritize that this money would be spent in your communities? I know it's a huge question, but I hope you can try to address that.