There have been different reiterations of the program. A long time ago, it was not an independent body. It was attached to Canadian Heritage through a university. It was defunded or cancelled, and then it was brought back and became an independent body.
I think becoming an independent body will give it more opportunities to deal with questions of transparency. However, at some point we also have to realize that, when people come to the program for funding, there may be situations where the applicants do not want that information made public, so we need to address that issue. Maybe if we could find a way of summarizing the reasons or types of cases being challenged, without giving out information about the individual applicant, this would make decisions more transparent.
Transparency and accountability can also be strengthened by changing the board structure or by recruiting, reaching out to more community groups. The program is still not very well known to many groups out there, even though it's been effectively going on for 10 years. Aboriginal groups and racialized minority groups, for example, are not as familiar with the program.
As the program membership grows, the accountability structure will get stronger. As the program becomes accountable to more communities, it will need to be more transparent. Some funding is required for outreach and promotion.