Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  It was more because we knocked on the door of the communities to find out what we needed to ask the Treasury Board. The board responded almost immediately once the request was made.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  In terms of the time it'll take, that will depend on what the communities ask for, because it could be a broad range of things. We'll be there to support them immediately. There are help supports that have been made available already to deal with some of the immediate issues, and

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  There have over time been a number of efforts made, though not as co-ordinated and not on a national scale like this. For example, there have been known situations in Regina where there was a “discovery”, and I think that's a loaded word in this context, because there are many in

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you for the question. Again, the key was to ensure that the money would be invested as intended by the communities. We went to the communities as part of a national consultation. We had some very difficult conversations. Of course, we talked about children, deaths, things

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I'll let my colleague, Monsieur Reiher, speak to the specifics there.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I will just add briefly that we are pleased that it looks like about 4,100 of the estimated 6,000 students who died or disappeared now have a place in the records that are being kept by the National Council for Reconciliation. We think that is an important step forward. There's

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I'm not able to speak to the details of why the decision might have been made at that point in time. I know that, obviously, the request was made and the decision was made not to provide the funds. This issue is certainly one we are committed to addressing and resolving. There

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  The federal government has turned over all the documents it has and made them available. Those are part of the records that are currently being held. Other parties have lists that haven't been shared. Obviously, those would be in their possession, not our possession. If they ha

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I'll turn to my colleague, Valerie Gideon.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  We estimate that approximately 80% of those for which the federal government is solely or in partnership responsible have been either completed or substantially completed. An example of substantially complete or at least well under way—I think that's the terminology used—would be

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I'll ask my colleague, Madam Carin, to speak to the specifics there.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Perhaps I could turn to my colleague, Madam Gideon.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  If I could just pick up quickly on the first point you made, some of the most heart-wrenching conversations I've had in the last week have been with indigenous people who are frustrated with the reaction of Canadians, from the perspective, they said, that six years ago this issue

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I'll ask my colleague Martin Reiher to speak to some of the specifics and the requests we have had. I'm not aware that we have denied any requests from different groups that might have come forward to us. Obviously, we were waiting for the money. We expect many requests to come

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you for the question. I wouldn't say that the money was blocked. It's just that there was no question of spending the money without knowing what the communities involved wanted done. The communities told us that the government was making unilateral decisions during the re