Public Accounts committee  Thank you very much. Have a good day.

Public Accounts committee  First, I confirm that the department was working through the summer and fall with the goal of meeting the deadline. It was only in the fall that this changed, when the Minister asked that work not continue based on that timeline. I just wanted to clarify that. In terms of the percentage of systems at risk, we saw reductions in risk, especially for systems that were high risk.

Public Accounts committee  Thank you so much. It's a great question. I think what is really important to note is again—and I've come to this point a lot—that it's about that respectful relationship and it's about indigenous leaders making those decisions. Of course, we want to work with them because they will have skills and training needs in their community for broader infrastructure, for water infrastructure, and it's about working closely with them to empower them to make those decisions and provide them with the resources to enable that decision-making, because if you don't have—

Public Accounts committee  Yes, but at the end of the day we cannot dictate what the salary will be for that worker in that community.

Public Accounts committee  Yes, I think that's an excellent question. It would be things like the environmental public health officers, for instance, who do the testing. At this point right now, we're in a process of transferring that responsibility and that funding from the employees I have here in Indigenous Services Canada to funding people in communities to take on those roles and provide that kind of skills and training, so it's not limited to the operators.

Public Accounts committee  In any infrastructure project, there are realities that mean there are sometimes delays. I can't say that there were no delays before the COVID-19 pandemic. There are always projects that move a little faster or slower than others. We were working closely with the committees to really understand the project and the timelines, and how we could make up for any delays.

Public Accounts committee  I think what I would say is that the investments that we've made in budget 2019 and the fall economic statement about the O and M allow them to increase their wages. Now we're at 100% of that O and M funding formula. I think it does, with regard to your point, really give the chief and council the opportunity to pay fair wages.

Public Accounts committee  No, it is not acceptable. We believe all Canadians should have access to clean drinking water, absolutely. That's what pushes and motivates our department to work directly with chiefs and councils to address these issues. You mentioned York Factory. We have been in touch. We have teams on standby 24-7 to take calls from indigenous leaders, whether it be on water issues, fire, mental health supports or COVID.

Public Accounts committee  I think what I would say is that the department is involved in terms of providing funding to first nations leadership, but it is the responsibility of the first nations to manage the contract. Of course, through the terms and conditions of our funding, there are certain requirements.

Public Accounts committee  Thank you for the question. Indeed, the act has been in effect since 2013. There are a lot of questions about the regulations and the need to change them. However, I must say that our first nations partners do not agree with the elements of the bill that was tabled in 2013 that led to the creation of the act.

Public Accounts committee  Even in the early spring of 2020, we were still trying to find ways to achieve that goal by working on the action plan with the communities. That was still our goal. We realized, especially during the summer and early fall, given the third wave, that our challenges would be more numerous.

Public Accounts committee  I agree with you. We have the same goal, which is to ensure that everyone has access to safe drinking water. We were doing our job with timelines, community realities and construction seasons in mind. We were still working hard to meet the March 2021 target. Unfortunately, 52 long-term drinking water advisories remain in place in 33 communities, but we are committed to doing everything we can to lift them.

Public Accounts committee  In our discussions over the summer and fall of 2020, we recognized the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. During the second wave, which took place from October to January in first nations communities, all our attention was consumed by the pandemic. During that time, there were 5,000 cases in on-reserve communities, and the entire team was dedicated to dealing with the issues related to the pandemic.

Public Accounts committee  Thank you for the question. I think it's really important to flag what the role of Indigenous Services Canada is. The role is actually to work with leadership of indigenous communities to make determinations about what they need to support their communities. Sometimes water is at the top of that list, for very obvious reasons.

Public Accounts committee  I think there are real complexities with some of these systems. It does not take away from the importance of doing it and for the quick action that is required to address them. Where a first nation community is located in the country will have an impact on the water source, the availability of contractors, the availability of people to get up there.