Thank you, Chair, and thank you, Minister, for coming today and taking your time here with us.
Just to clarify, I'm not a police officer. I was a contractor, but I did serve on my local police services board for a period of time and I want to comment on one thing you've said here today. Thank you actually for your views that there is a spot for police investigating police. It has been my experience that they have the expertise. As a person, a civilian, serving on a police services board and in certain situations, I don't know what we would have done without them and their expertise. So thank you for that.
My question relates to the recent announcement on the federal emergency response plan and the $100 million that's in the main estimates for the disaster financial assistance arrangements. While I'm sure Canadians are pleased with the initiative, I think some Canadians may have been surprised that something like this wasn't already in place. Is that the case? That's my first question.
The second question is what improvements were made?