First of all, I want to say thank you so much, wela'lin, to all of the gentlemen who have presented. We're talking about really important stuff today. It's very interesting.
It's wonderful to see Nunavut COVID-free and to see your community there celebrating on television for that incredible milestone. It's wonderful and so uplifting. It would be nice if we could all learn from what you've done.
Here in Nova Scotia we have a number of cases. So far we're doing pretty well in Millbrook First Nation, which is in my community, but I'm always concerned because during the last epidemic we had, which was H1N1, I was actually in government at the time here in Nova Scotia. We were telling folks that pregnant women and first nations people needed to be inoculated first because it was easy for them to get that particular virus. I was shocked at the racism that this brought up, when people were complaining that our first nations people were able to get in line and be inoculated first. I'm aware of racism, of course, but that really blew me away and I was so disgusted.
As Chief Bellegarde mentioned, there are so many things we need to look at on a larger scale, and COVID-19 just brings out certain things and puts a spotlight on certain things that are already happening.
One thing I'm interested in asking you about is the personal protective equipment. On May 1, the Minister of Indigenous Services told the committee that $59.8 million had been used so far to purchase personal protective equipment and to support emergency preparedness for the communities, and noted that the funding is in addition to the $80 million for health emergency preparedness announced in budget 2019. However, prior to the pandemic, did the department consult indigenous communities and organizations about the types and quantities of protective equipment and essential supplies that might be needed in the department's stockpile?
Also, I'm just curious as to how long, on average, it takes for remote and isolated communities to receive the orders that they need of personal protective equipment from the department.
I'm not sure which one of you would like to respond.