Mr. Chair, I think there is a question of practice, which isn't a great answer, in the sense that we have done it in the past that way, and we continue to do it in the present that way. One of the efforts that we are trying to pursue in the department is that concentration of expertise and programming in one single place. Our desire is indeed to expand the kind of work we do to be able to engage more directly and consistently with communities, to not rely on just the cycles of how these agreements work, but rather to make sure we have a much more consistent engagement with communities. Therefore, between funding decisions we learn what the needs of communities are, and that gets reflected in the next round of discussions. That, I think, is something that will allow us to say that we are actually engaging in a better way with community leadership.
On April 30th, 2024. See this statement in context.