Thank you for that question.
The first part of the question deals with the planning process and the parliamentary process that approves funds. To fully understand the whole, you have to read certain documents together.
We tabled a report on plans and priorities in the House; it lists the expenditures planned for the next three years. We do the planning to the best of our knowledge and we work with professionals like Ms. Thivierge and her team so that we can properly manage our resources internally. We forecast our expenditures for the next three years, we establish our priorities, and we make sure that we can fulfill our commitments and meet our priorities with the resources at our disposal. That is the burden of financial management.
We have a lot of interaction with external people. We have websites that contain a lot of information and we work with experts. We work closely with the provinces and their experts so that there is good dialogue with various groups.
Some programs, like the program for victims, depend on good applications. We work closely with people, but, ultimately, funds are limited and choices have to be made from among the various requests. But I can assure you that we work closely with the provinces, their experts and with community organizations in order to help them better understand the terms, conditions and technical aspects when the time comes to submit an application. The goal is to know what they want to achieve with the funds they will be allotted. There is give and take, but…
Barb could speak to the applications that have been approved and the amount of money that's been approved for worthwhile programs in communities to support victims, to support efforts in communities to address the problem of murdered and missing aboriginal women, and all of those other things that are approved.
But some applications just cannot be approved.