Thank you, Chair, and thank you, Minister.
I was pleased to hear you talking about Velma's House, in my colleague MP Leah Gazan's riding of Winnipeg Centre. I just want to acknowledge how much I'm celebrating that work, as it's been a critical call from the community for years to support women and gender-diverse individuals. It's that leadership and advocacy from the community that made this happen, so I'm happy to see the action that has resulted from that community advocacy and the funding that has resulted: a big applause on that.
I wanted to ask a question about missing and murdered indigenous women and girls and two-spirit people. I'll give you some context, and I know that this story is definitely not in isolation. My friend and local indigenous woman from Nanaimo, Lisa Marie Young, went missing in 2002 at the age of 21. I'll tell you that her family and loved ones continue to search for her, continue to have marches and awareness of her. It's so sad to see that there are still no answers as to what happened to her. There are just so many stories, as you know. I'm sure you're hearing about other women and girls going missing with no answers.
I wanted to see if you could speak to the $724.1 million that has been allocated as part of the National Inquiry Into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, which has been, as I'm sure you're aware, largely unused to date. As my colleague said, there's money sitting in the docket while women and girls and 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals continue to die. I'm wondering if you can provide some specific timelines and commitments as to when this money is going to be spent, and how it's going to be spent.
Thank you very much, Minister.