If it's all right with you, Mr. Chairman, I thought I'd take a few minutes--I promise to be brief--and then have an exchange with the committee.
The first thing I should do is thank you for the opportunity to come here today and for accommodating what were unforeseen circumstances last week.
As I said in my letter to you, I treat relations with parliamentary committees and Parliament very seriously. In all of my previous jobs I had very constructive relationships with the parliamentary committees overseeing the department. I've had many opportunities to appear at and work with parliamentary committees. I understand the importance of your work.
It really was a crisis situation last week. I think if any of you caught your BlackBerrys or your newswires, you will have seen that the situation in Caledonia got a lot better today. Barricades are being dismantled. I think the situation is improving by the hour.
It was my decision to attend the other meeting on short notice and not be here, and I unreservedly apologize to the committee for any inconvenience it has caused you in your work or your deliberations. I hope we can move forward today.
What I'd like is to very briefly, because I know you've had the opportunity to talk to the Auditor General and some of my officials, do a little treetop view of the comments on the Auditor General's report that was tabled last month and talk a little bit about the actions the department has taken, and, more importantly, intends to take, to address the recommendations that were raised in a series of reports over the last few years.
As the new Deputy Minister of a department that is responsible for spending several billion dollars each year to improve the living conditions of First Nations, Inuit and Métis, I can assure you that we all strive to attain the highest possible value from the money taxpayers entrust to us. And we adhere strictly to principles of probity and prudence. Money is spent honestly and wisely to further the purposes for which it is intended.
My department concurs with the Auditor General's identification of the seven critical factors that appear to enable the successful implementation of her recommendations. Specifically, the factors described in chapter 5 of the Status Report are, as you know: good coordination among departments; sustained attention to sound management practices; meaningful consultations with First Nations; building capacity within First Nations; an appropriate legislative base for programs; support for First Nation institutions; and recognition of INAC's potentially conflicting roles.
Mr. Chairman, I can assure you that these factors will guide and inform the design and implementation of policies and programs and services in the coming months and years.
Let me just move on to talk a bit about some of the specific issues that were highlighted in the Auditor General's report and talk about how some of these factors may come into play.
On the issue of mould in first nations housing, I accept entirely the challenge of bringing together, in my convening role, the three departments that have accountabilities on this file. What I have is the ability to convene, and I am going to be meeting with the president of CMHC later this week. My senior assistant deputy minister, Paul LeBlanc, whom you met last week, is pulling together an ADM's group, and there is a meeting taking place even this Friday of a working group between my department, CMHC, and Health Canada, and I can inform you that the Assembly of First Nations is involved in this exercise and is involved in shaping the framework, which we hope to turn very quickly into a concrete action plan moving forward.
So we are going to get our act together among the three departments, and I'd be happy to come back to the committee in the months ahead and report on the progress.
There's a lot to be done in that area, as you know. As the Auditor General pointed out, there are important things governments can do and important things that can be done in the community and by individual homeowners. There are issues to do with construction, with home maintenance, with practices of ventilation, and so on. We have a role to play as government and as funder. We will meet our responsibilities and help others to meet theirs.
There has been some improvement—not enough and not fast enough—but we are trying to ensure that on-reserve housing meets appropriate codes and standards, and we are trying to enforce the National Building Code in the construction of housing. It will be of importance in safeguarding the new investments taxpayers are going to fund in the renovation and creation of new housing and ensuring that these investments are not vulnerable to the mould issue.
We're working with first nations governments to raise awareness in the communities, to equip people with the knowledge and the tools and the actions they can take as occupants of housing to prevent and combat mould. Information material is being published and distributed. We're organizing training sessions in communities and bringing expert advice to bear.
