Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I would support my colleague's response. I do believe that the government direction, in terms of providing predictable, stable funding in particular areas such as infrastructure, would be very helpful in order to address the socio-economic gaps. That is something this department is working on, in consultations with first nations and indigenous peoples, in order to arrive at that outcome.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Budget 2016 provided significant monies for indigenous peoples, to the tune of $8.4 billion over five years. When you look at that amount of money over that period of time, in conjunction with.... That comes up to 22% over that period of time, vis-à-vis.... So that is definitely an increase on the 2% escalator in comparison over that same period of time.