Thanks very much, Mr. Chair.
My first question will be for Minister Hajdu.
Minister, I was quite blessed to enjoy a career as an educator—as a teacher, a coach and a principal. During that time, I was able to work alongside many kids and their families. In particular, I worked with many indigenous families in the northwest part of the city of Winnipeg. Unfortunately, for many of those families and others, a variety of reasons we understand quite well—intergenerational trauma, the poverty that comes from that and other substantial socio-economic issues—made it challenging for a lot of those kids to find success, relative to their peers.
In Winnipeg, just a couple of weeks ago, Minister Vandal and I, alongside others, joined Minister Sudds and Minister Freeland to make an announcement of $17.3 million, which will add on to a contribution the provincial government in Manitoba already made for a school food program. It is the second province in the country, in addition to Newfoundland and Labrador, to do so. Winnipeg has one of the largest urban indigenous populations in the country, I believe. It's about 100,000 plus in our municipality.
Can you speak generally, Minister, about the importance of programs like this and give us your perspective and perhaps concern when you hear individuals, such as the Leader of the Opposition, refer to these critically important social programs as nothing more than mere bureaucracy?