I feel that it would be important first of all to know what the funding criteria are. Who is chosen? A private foundation in Montreal received $1.5 million in funding over three years, while, for a small project, a really good group gets $30,000. I am sure that all the funded projects are interesting, but we have to understand your criteria a little better.
Important questions have to be asked. With the new services, funding is project-specific for a period of 18 months or 3 years. You are funding new services through new groups. Do you know if those groups are going to be able to continue providing the services after the 18 months are over? But then there are groups with a longer track record. They have demonstrated their ability to produce returns on investment over several years. The funding is an investment, after all.
That raises some questions. You are about to experience this, with the closure of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation, for example. They have created essential services, but there is no more funding with which to deliver them. It is the same thing here. If the situation happens again, it will be serious. There is no doubt that the funded services are real. But what good is that if the funding runs out after 18 months? Expectations of service have been created once more and the group will no longer be in a position to provide them.