Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, and thank you so much, Minister and officials, for being with us again today.
I just want to start with again reminding Canadians and our committee of how we got here, which is chronic underfunding, discrimination, oppression in our system, a bill that was previously inadequate and didn't respond to the needs of indigenous communities across the country, and currently having no enforceable standards right now for clean drinking water and wastewater protections for communities.
I think it's disrespectful to the work of indigenous peoples and voices across this country not to acknowledge the progress we've made. Of course there are still gaps. Of course it's still inadequate. We have to keep working and fighting. However, I think if we don't acknowledge how far we've come, it puts that better future in jeopardy. I just wanted to preface my comments this morning with that.
Minister, really, we've heard from incredible voices. The testimony at this committee is just such an honour to be a part of. We've heard concerns. We have heard amendments that have been brought forward. We've heard perhaps also misunderstandings with how the bill will work in application for communities as they move forward.
I'd like to go through some of those concerns quickly. A big one we're hearing is the idea that Bill C-61 removes any responsibility from the federal government for ensuring this water protection moving forward. Can you speak to that?