Thank you very much for that.
Mr. Chair, I appreciate his response. However, the Public Health Agency of Canada has identified several factors that make people more vulnerable during COVID-19, including economic barriers, social or geographic isolation, and insecure, inadequate or non-existent housing conditions. PHAC also noted significant health inequalities and inequities, as noted as well by Dr. Tam, between indigenous and non-indigenous communities. Minister Bennett also acknowledged that today in her statement.
In light of these facts, again, why did the departments choose to disregard evidence from Health Canada and continue to underfund first nations, given the fact that they're already behind in the human rights that other Canadians enjoy?