Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Our view is that our legislative mandate is to try to reduce the socio-eonomic gaps faced by communities. It's very hard to accomplish that when we have this irritant in the relationship with the community, which is the default prevention and management policy. How do we make that policy less of an irritant so we can concentrate on what Mr.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  You're asking all the right questions, Ms. McLeod. The reason they're not third party is that, as I explained in my opening remarks, we don't want to impose third party. If there is another way that is lighter, whereby the community can take responsibility for themselves to get out of default, that is our go-to option.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  We can provide you with the trends. We can say that over the past couple of years, we have seen movement of 18 in terms of a positive reduction in the levels of intervention. That was over a period of just a year and a half to two years. I think that's pretty good. As I said in my opening remarks, the most interventionist one....

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  The advisers are paid out of the band support funding, essentially in all cases. This is where, in response to Mr. McLeod's question, we do concur that the level of band support funding there needs to be revisited to make sure it's adequate for their needs. The advisers are chosen under third party.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I can tell you that one is not under third party management.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Right. As I may have explained in my opening remarks, there are different types of intervention and we try to avoid third party to the extent that we can. It does not necessarily mean that there aren't other forms of lighter intervention, where we're engaging in order to assist that first nation out.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  They are a second-level intervention. Renetta may want to speak to this.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Just to respond to that, with regard to audit opinions, when it's adverse you have to look at what that adverse statement actually is, because it does vary.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  It's not a blanket kind of adverse. One has to be fairly nuanced.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I'm not necessarily saying there isn't a level of intervention. I'm saying it's not third party.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  If we can. Sometimes with block funding it's hard for us to take a read on that, but we can see what we can do to give you a readout on that.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Mr. McLeod, I'm sorry if my presentation did not.... I was just talking about the policy itself and how it works.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I share your concerns that if there isn't sufficient capacity development funding for low-capacity first nations that don't have access to own source revenues in particular, then it's very hard—notwithstanding any degrees of expertise by outsiders to engage with them—to get them out.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  We are doing a number of things. For example, through that professional and institutional development budget that I mentioned, we provide funds for things like financial software and financial training, because that's an element embedded in the management action plan that has been worked together.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  It comes out of their band support funding.