Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Thank you so much to the officials who have joined us here today to share their insight and perspectives with us. It's so important that Canadians know and hear from you as we are navigating this together.
All Canadians from coast to coast to coast are shaken, upset and distraught by this discovery of the remains of 215 children, and the loss to the families who have these memories. It's reverberating, certainly in British Columbia and Kamloops, but across the country as well, and it's absolutely heartbreaking.
Yesterday we heard that $27 million was made available, which was first allocated in 2019, to support this ongoing work from call to action 74. As my colleague mentioned, it calls on the federal government to work with churches and indigenous community leaders to inform families of children, and to respond to families with appropriate commemoration ceremonies. This is heartbreaking work. This is tragic work.
I'm also glad to hear that there was some federal funding utilized in this discovery. Thank you for highlighting that.
My question is for whoever would like to take it.
Can you explain to the committee why the funding for this very important initiative was delayed, and do you believe that $27 million will be enough to support hurting communities across the country in continuing this important work?