Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I just want to add that in order to move first nations out from under the Indian Act, provisions have been created for bands to set their own election rules and processes. Unfortunately, some, through the self-determination process, have taken this route. For those who have decid

Public Accounts committee  The first aspect would be cultural safety, that is, serving the clients in an appropriate way with people who understand the culture. The second aspect would be the control of the services. The approach cannot be the same in the Quebec City region as it is in northern Quebec, no

Public Accounts committee  Actually, we are using this. We are using the data we have to look at trends, the type of utilization, and prevention versus treatment. We do all of this. What we cannot do, and where I think our partners from the OAG are driving us, is to be able to say how much these services—b

Public Accounts committee  You were talking about the patient journey and their going to see a nurse. I think this is a prime example. In the north, where there is a nurse, a patient will see the nurse, and if there is a problem with oral health, the nurse will do a couple of things. First, the nurse wil

Public Accounts committee  Yes, this is part of the treatment and the process of serving the patient. There is a responsibility for the local nurse, for the treating dentist, and for the dental therapist. What we have to work on is the stabilization of the service provider community in order to make sure

Public Accounts committee  I would invite you to look at the plan presented by the Assembly of First Nations in 2017, which lists health priorities. In our partnership approach, the points of view raised by our partners are taken into account in order to drive action. You will see that, in that plan, the

Public Accounts committee  I think the children's oral health initiative was introduced in 2005, with $5 million. We were in 2017-18 when the Office of the Auditor General made the audit, and the budget was the same. Over time, the capacity of communities to deliver the service—this funding is going toward

Public Accounts committee  First, budget 2017 provides an additional investment of $45 million, over five years, for this program. Right after the announcement, we engaged with first nations and Inuit partners across the country to determine how this funding would be allocated. This year, for the first tim

Public Accounts committee  I could start, and maybe Dr. Plante could complement it further. There are a number of programs and different ways to collect information. For example, the children's oral health initiative depends on the work that is done in each of the 200 communities, in day-to-day services,

Public Accounts committee  We have been doing it all the time in order to try to improve, but there is a challenge to get this data and analyze it at a national level. This is what the Auditor General revealed in the report, that it's not something that's conclusive. There's more work to be done there. S

Public Accounts committee  Thank you for the question. You've put your finger on the problem: the geographic distribution of clients and service providers. The programs make it possible to reach these clients differently, which is why a strategy is needed. The non-insured health benefits program is actual

Public Accounts committee  That’s a very good question. Let me reassure you in this regard. Part of our program spending goes to the transportation of medical personnel and equipment, and it is calculated differently. The figures presented in the auditor’s report relate to services and medical procedures

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes. For sure. Initially, when the minister announced the funding for the Cross Lake nursing station replacement, the estimate for the project was around $40 million. When the first nations partner started to do the assessment and the design of the work, it came to the conclusio