As you know, budget 2017 provided $1.5 billion in funding over five years to Transport Canada and several other departments to implement the Government of Canada's oceans protection plan. Grants under this element of the OPP assist indigenous and local communities in understanding, identifying, preventing, or mitigating potential effects of marine transportation on their communities. The initiative enables those communities to work collaboratively with federal and other stakeholders, share their knowledge and expertise, and contribute to the development and improvement of Canada's marine transportation system.
Let me drop my notes for a second and be very much more explicit. We need to engage our indigenous peoples, especially in coastal areas, because they have an expertise from living there for thousands of years. They're often the first responders when there are incidents. We need their help, they want to help, and we are going to use their help. This is something that has never been done, but I think it is one of the things that I am most proud of with respect to our government, and that is engaging coastal first nations—and of course we're going to do everything the proper way.