Health committee  Thank you very much, and good morning. On behalf of the national chief and the national executive of the Assembly of First Nations, thank you very much for inviting us here to speak. I'd like to acknowledge, of course, that we're gathered here in traditional Algonquin territory and thank them for allowing us to gather here and do this work today.

Finance committee  I was going to start off by teasing you and saying that I have non-aboriginal friends who also do very well and some of them are in trades—

Finance committee  —but I would agree that they all have completed high school as well, which would have been the key marker. But I jest. I appreciate the question, though, of course, with the graduation rates. I think the primary issue right now is the lack of a sustainable system across the country for first nations education.

Finance committee  Yes, because that has framed this whole discussion. Without his involvement or this pushing, we wouldn't be where we are today on it.

Finance committee  I think they're all very welcome. I don't think that's the structural change we're all driving for. I don't want to dismiss them, because I think they absolutely are helpful, but we're seeking broader structural change to the relationship. I don't think those investments in and of themselves are going to result in first nations kids graduating at the exact same rate as mainstream Canadians—simply not.

Finance committee  Yes. I have two comments. Earlier Ms. Glover commented that there are questions as to whether or not income disparity exists in Canada. We invite you to come to our communities and determine.... I know you weren't saying it doesn't exist, but the debate that exists amongst academics is a very academic exercise: yes, the rich get richer, but the poorer get richer too.

Finance committee  It's a little complicated, as I am sure you can appreciate. This takes place at a variety of different levels. The primary importance is consultation with the rights holders themselves, individual first nations themselves. We've heard it reflected from some of our constituents that notification is not consultation.

Finance committee  I think you have to balance out individual per capita distribution with what's retained in the communities. I've heard others talk about the economic advantages of addressing income inequality of schools and day care and public infrastructure. A lot of communities don't have schools, they don't have paved roads, they don't have waste-water treatment facilities.

Finance committee  Of course, each community has to make those own determinations for themselves.

Finance committee  Where they work, absolutely.

Finance committee  Yes, but it's within a broader bundle in the relationship between the crown and first nations.

Finance committee  I think natural resources are a part of the fiscal relationship that exists. Right now, it's primarily contribution agreement-based as opposed to this kind of governance model—

Finance committee  I think you're seeing an example of where it works. I don't think there are enough of those success stories across the country.

Finance committee  I can't speak specifically about that. I haven't had the time to go through that—

Finance committee  There are challenges with the nature of the impact benefit agreements, with how the community actually benefits. It's not enough to come in, take out x billions of dollars of resources in the year, hire 40 people from the community, and call that the relationship.