Good morning.
I'm pleased to be here today to discuss the government's commitment to mental health and emotional support for aboriginal people under the Indian residential schools settlement agreement. The Government of Canada is committed to a fair and lasting resolution of the legacy of Indian residential schools and recognizes that bringing closure to the legacy lies at the heart of reconciliation and a renewal of the relationships between former students, their families, communities, and all Canadians. This commitment is embodied in the Indian residential schools settlement agreement.
Implementation of the settlement agreement began on September 19, 2007, following the consensus reached between legal counsel for former students and legal counsel for the churches, the Assembly of First Nations, Inuit organizations, and the Government of Canada.
The Government of Canada is fulfilling its continuing legal obligations to provide mental health and emotional support services to former Indian residential school students and their family members participating in the settlement agreement, including the common experience payment, the independent assessment process, and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission activities. Canada will provide these support services throughout the life of the settlement agreement.
The agreement includes two main health support mechanisms: funding for the Aboriginal Healing Foundation and Health Canada's resolution health support program. The government provided an endowment of $125 million to the Aboriginal Healing Foundation for community-based healing services in support of 134 projects as well as 12 healing centres. In addition to the $125 million provided under the settlement agreement, the Government of Canada endowed the Aboriginal Healing Foundation with $350 million in 1998 and a further $40 million in 2005, for a total of $515 million. The last endowment of $125 million was for a time-limited mandate to 2012, as described in the foundation's corporate plan released in December 2009.
The Aboriginal Healing Foundation is currently implementing the wind-down strategy described in its corporate plan. As part of that strategy, 12 healing centres will continue to provide services until March 2012. Over the next three years, the foundation will fulfill the remaining work of its mandate, including publication of annual reports, corporate plans, newsletters, and five major research projects, and it will fulfill all of its corporate requirements.
The Government of Canada commends the Aboriginal Healing Foundation for the positive work it has carried out over the past 12 years.
Here, it is important to note that Budget 2010 funds for Health Canada have not been reallocated from funds previously allocated to the Aboriginal Healing Foundation.
Health and emotional support services continue to be offered to former students and their family members through Health Canada's resolution health support program. My colleague from Health Canada will be able to elaborate more on that program.
Budget 2010 committed $66 million in additional resources to the resolution health support program over fiscal years 2010-11 and 2011-12. The additional funding is to meet the demand for program services resulting from the increased volume of independent assessment process applications and hearings and for upcoming Truth and Reconciliation Commission events.
Budget 2010 also committed an additional $133 million to INAC. This funding is required to meet the higher than anticipated costs of administering the common experience payments, the independent assessment process, and the work in support of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. So far, our original projections remain valid with respect to the number of common experience payment applications received and paid out. However, technological issues and processes added by the courts have significantly increased the amount of work required to administer the CEP over the original expectations.
For the independent assessment process, the volume of claims has exceeded original expectations. In 2006 we projected there would be 12,500 IAP applications, and we have currently received close to 19,000 claims. We now anticipate receiving a total of 25,000 over the life of the settlement agreement, that is, until September 2012.
Additional initiatives designed to support survivors include the national Indian residential schools crisis line, at a cost of $4 million per year, and future care awards through the independent assessment process. The Indian residential schools settlement agreement provides that independent assessment process claimants may receive future care awards for treatment or counselling services totalling $10,000 for general care and $15,000 if psychiatric treatment is required. To date, the average independent assessment process award has been $122,810, and the average future care component has been $8,340.
Another key component of the settlement agreement is the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The commission held the first of its seven mandated national events this past June in Winnipeg. The federal government played a significant role in this event, hosting a hospitality tent, providing CEP and IAP information booths, and providing emotional and health support services through Health Canada's resolution health support program. The former Minister of Indian Affairs took part in the pipe ceremony and the sharing circle, and he furthered the government's reconciliation agenda by offering a gesture of reconciliation. He announced the government's plan to repeal those sections of the Indian Act related to Indian residential schools. The Government of Canada plans to continue to have a significant presence at the remaining TRC events. In addition, we'll continue to work with the commission on the $20 million commemoration program that is part of the settlement agreement.
By implementing the Indian residential schools settlement agreement, we hope to contribute to addressing the legacy of the residential schools through an improved understanding and relationship between the Government of Canada and aboriginal people, as well as between aboriginal and non-aboriginal people in general.
Thank you very much. I'd be very happy to answer any questions either now or after my colleague from Health Canada has presented.