Thank you very much. Your answer was very clear and very informative.
Mr. McKearney, you talked about reimbursements. Paul-Émile Ottawa, Chief of the Atikamekw Council of Manawan, also spoke to the committee about this last week. It is a question of governance. A few years ago, there were forest fires and the flames were getting close to this Atikamekw community. Given the lack of adequate services, the members of the community chose—if I understand what the chief said last week—to purchase pumps which they put into the lake near the community to extinguish the approaching flames. The fire was brought under control in this way and they avoided the worst outcome. The community then approached the federal department to be reimbursed, but was informed that such an expense was not eligible.
On paper, the federal government appears to recognize their governance. This community was facing an emergency, the flames were getting closer and, since there was a lake nearby, it chose to purchase pumps. Ultimately, the federal government ignored this governance decision and refused to reimburse this expense.
How do the members of your organization who are from indigenous communities, especially those in the north, deal with this governance issue and the reimbursement of expenses in terms of taking responsibility for their choices? What have they said about that? You referred to it briefly.