Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you for being here today, Minister.
The committee met with you not long ago to discuss the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer's report. That's helpful because it ties in with the current estimates. An issue that was raised had to do with the fact that a lot of money was invested after the main estimates came out, through the supplementary estimates. Department staff, however, had trouble using that supplementary funding because they didn't have enough capacity. I don't have the exact figures for every budget item, but it was one of the things that stood out.
The spending proposed in these estimates is pretty considerable. The figures are laid out. I assume expenditures will be added in the course of the year. My concern is twofold. First, will you be able to spend the money as intended? Second, have you taken any steps, or do you have any initiatives under way, to address the resource gap, so that the money can be spent and indigenous populations can benefit?