Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you. Clearly, that's the department's responsibility. In 1990 they developed the policy, the implementation of which we're auditing in this report. The department decided the program and funding should support activities that meet provincial standards, that have a degree o

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  A big part of this solution isn't funding, I'm afraid. As Mr. Berthelette said, this is a complex set of issues. There are jurisdictional issues and basic program definition issues, but the funding of the program, if it's to meet its objectives, has to be related to the objective

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I think there were several questions there, and I thank you for them. If I miss one, or if my colleague and I miss one, then please just remind us. You talked about a response from the minister. I don't know what comment you're referring to. I think the response we've received—

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I have no view on that, because I'm not aware of the comment, but certainly the response from the department has been that they've agreed with all the recommendations, and part of that response has been that they intend to seek authority to take the Alberta arrangement and expand

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  That's a good question. Our audit didn't get into that, because what we're talking about here is a departmental response to the audit. But certainly I think that would be a really good question to pose to the department. You're absolutely right that time is of the essence. I th

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for this opportunity to discuss our May 2008 report on the first nations child and family services program. With me today is Jerome Berthelette, the principal auditor responsible for this audit. The audit examined how Indian and Northern Affa

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  That's correct.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  They already have that.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  At the risk of being repetitive, again, I think certainly have an implementation plan, have an objective measurement periodically--I mean an objective measurement that involves all the parties--then report the results of that, but be transparent about it.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you. As Mr. Barrett pointed out, in some areas, in relation to environment and wildlife, all the parties seem to get it. They seem to be working together enthusiastically without any reluctance, and that side works. Now, what's the magic formula that has those individuals

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes, certainly at the signing of any of those agreements there are across government owners of various policies, and in the case we talked about in this particular audit, we are talking about contracting. So at the time when contracting provisions are being implemented into a lan

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Mr. Chairman, I would like to just elaborate on the answer. One of the analyses or explanations that were provided to us by representatives of the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation was that there is a hope and an expectation of significant economic activity in that area in the fu

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Those are excellent questions. I'll try to make sure I remember all the points you made. In relation to the comment that Madam Fraser made in the quote you mentioned, the change was on the department's website in terms of what they're about and what they do. I can't remember th

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Mr. Chairman, not that I'm aware of, no.