Thank you, MP Hanley.
What we are trying to do at ISC is really transform the way we're delivering service. We're trying to modernize. We're trying to introduce the implementation of digital service. We're trying to introduce a one-window service approach where communities come to ISC and they're able to ask all of their questions across a variety of subjects and receive that service in a timely manner instead of going to multiple different areas within the department.
That's really important to me; communities need support in a timely way. We want to be able to respond to them and empower them to participate in the application process and ensure they can define on their terms the intent and the outcomes of a project and define what the future of their nation or their community looks like.
Those targets can be very different. They can be very different for indigenous children, for youth in community and for families simply because of how they have been historically treated.
I am very proud to be here as the first indigenous minister, but I also have to be very frank that this is extremely challenging work to see the level of uncertainty that was provided to them historically. What we are trying to do with this budget, in this period of time when Canada is facing some of the deepest economic impacts because of our relationship with our trading partners, the state of the Canadian economy, the impact of inflation and everything coming out of the pandemic.... Although it was not that long ago, we do continue to see the impacts, especially in areas like mental health and supporting families.
We want to be sure that the way we transform at ISC is going to meet the needs of community, and the role of public servants is a critical one. It is one that supported first nations in the period of time when funding was extremely hard with a decade of underfunding from the previous government in the Conservative era. In trying to transition and grow as funds increased at ISC through investments and trying to work towards goals of reconciliation, it grew. With this shift, we're now also going to see a transition in how public service is going to look in the next step of how we move forward.
Although I may not have had the opportunity to fully provide a thorough response to my colleague, as we are transitioning, we are also going to see a shift in what ISC looks like. That means the service itself, the structure of how it's offered and the status of the number of public servants we have but also, more importantly, working towards the critical goal of what self-determination and self-governance look like. That means co-development. That means collaboration with community and giving them the opportunity to define what indigenous outcomes are to ensure the investments and funds we put forward in trying to support them and meet their needs are going to really be based on an outcome they have determined. That's something I as a minister am pushing to innovate not only for me at Indigenous Services Canada but also for my colleagues so that each of them understands they also have a service to offer as part of their work as ministers. That's every single department.
Every single department has an indigenous thread that runs through it, and the openness to explore and understand what that means is something I have had really positive feedback on. It's a huge transition for the government approach. I think that is historic. I'm very proud of it. I hope that everybody in the House is going to support that process as well.