Canadian Heritage committee  They're a separate body, so a separate invitation would have to be made.

Canadian Heritage committee  If they knew about it.

Canadian Heritage committee  I don't get invited to some meetings because I don't know about them.

Canadian Heritage committee  The Métis settlements are large, the group and the land mass. That would be one of the groups I would have focused on.

Canadian Heritage committee  You're dealing with Métis societies but you're not actually dealing with the Métis government, which is a settlement. I think we missed an opportunity.

Canadian Heritage committee  You can get a different perspective, so I would really encourage that you reach out to the settlements. I think you'll get a different perspective on a lot of things.

Canadian Heritage committee  Once again, thank you Madam Chair. Ms. Laurendeau, we understand that you went through a consultation process of some sort. Can you clarify when that process started? Obviously, it took some time. It didn't happen last week.

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you. We heard about first nations, Métis and Inuit, and all these people belong to a group. You did mention Métis government. To me, that's referring to the settlements where they are recognized as a governing body. Many of them are societies, so I'm not sure.... For example, the Métis Nation of Alberta is a society.

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you, Minister. I didn't want to go into the budget side of things—

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you very much. I was saying earlier that I didn't want to go into the budget side of things, but obviously the department has figured out how much it's going to cost to roll out the program, the initial steps. It's not going to just happen with no money. How much has the department established as the cost of initial rollout of this program?

Canadian Heritage committee  What you are saying is that you don't have any budget in mind. You have no business plan.

Canadian Heritage committee  There's always a rollout cost.

Canadian Heritage committee  It's administrative. You must have an idea. Is it—

Canadian Heritage committee  There must be an anticipated cost. Any business always anticipates what it will potentially cost for the first year of operation. We're not going and buying.... Say we have no money...but you have to have money to move forward. What's your estimate of how many dollars are going to be spent in the first year once you start implementing the program?

Canadian Heritage committee  So, you have a number, but it's not public.