Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Perhaps one of my colleagues can provide you with details on community economic development. As for the minister's announcement on the restructuring which is to come into effect on December 1, this is a structural decision that will have no direct financial impact.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Boil water advisories aren't always an indication that there's a serious health problem. Sometimes there's a spring runoff problem or there's a turnover in the lake. It could be a temporary phenomenon, especially in the spring.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  On the longer-term ones, the combination of problems in the underlying system and the presence of health alerts makes it a high-risk community. Those are the ones we're focusing on for the first tier. It causes some issues because there are lots of problems to attack in the secon

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  If I may, I will answer your questions in reverse order. According to the information I have, more than 140 communities are eligible for the program and approximately 90 of these communities receive support. We are in the midst of reviewing the merits of this program and address

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Albrecht. I think I can give you a more precise sort of calendar estimate when we come back and give you a progress report on all the steps. I think it will be a matter of a few years. I don't want to pin myself down, if you don't mind, because I don't really feel

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  We have about 750 water systems across a range of communities. One of the base activities of the department is that we support community infrastructure. In the main estimates, you'll see that about a billion dollars of what the department spends goes into that combination of hous

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  If I could add, my understanding is that the cost sharing would be fourteen from us, the federal government, and four from the province. They're doing the advance work now to hit the next construction season.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  You cannot generalize about the diversity of aboriginal governance and leadership. There are nations that don't have treaties yet in British Columbia. There are nations that have worked in treaty frameworks for 60 or 70 years. There are people under the James Bay agreement. There

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Well, you managed to sneak three very fundamental public policy questions into two minutes. I'll try to do justice to them, and we could talk about them at great length, so I'll just have to try to be concise. On consultation, engagement, accommodation, and so on, there's a spec

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  They are in the process of being set up. There are appointments, and it's always slower than it should be, and there's a consultation obligation to make sure we are putting people in those institutions that first nations people, in particular, will have confidence in. On the thi

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  That's a very good question. In fact, it's a fundamental question in terms of departmental administration. Two principles must be reconciled. The first is the principle of accountability to Canadian taxpayers. The department must ensure that the money allocated is well spent and

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Sure, Mr. Bruinooge, I know the committee has been looking at this issue intensely, and if I understand it, you intend to put together some advice for the government in the form of a report. Not to lob it back to you, but one of the first things we like to do is get the committee

Public Accounts committee  That's between me and the clerk. I can tell you that in the past, I've been offered assignments and have turned down assignments—more than once, actually—in order to finish what I was doing. That has happened in my career in the past. But it is sometimes beyond your own individua

Public Accounts committee  My only closing comment would be to echo what I said at the beginning and what members have said. I think this is a very tough piece of public policy and public administration. There is a lot of policy work to be done. The aboriginal affairs committee will probably carry a fair b

Public Accounts committee  I'll take the last question. I'd be pleased to come back in the fall with a report on the progress taken to date and an action plan going forward.