Thanks, Chair.
I have two questions. One, on page 12, paragraph 6.46 of the Auditor General's report says:
We found that Employment and Social Development Canada allocated funding to agreement holders under the Aboriginal Skills and Employment Training Strategy on the basis of 1996 population and socio-economic data that did not reflect the current needs of the populations served. Also, the Department had not updated the formula it used to allocate funding under the Strategy since the formula was established in 1999.
Now the last thing I am is a statistician, but I don't think you have to be all that bright to figure out that using information from the previous millennium is not going to give you the best outcome.
My question is this: How can something that obvious continue? With so many smart and caring people, how can stuff like this go on for decades, with people just saying, “Yes, that's just the way we've always done it.”? Help me understand how things like this can be.