Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for the question. It’s an important one. Clearly, I don’t have the answer. Part of the reason is that the government is going to be working with Indigenous leadership and communities to make sure that the money — and this is a historic and first-time initiative, which the government is proud of — is allocated in the right way that meets the needs.

In fact, a number of us today had lunch with, at his invitation, the Minister of Health and also Minister Bennett, and this subject was discussed. One of our colleagues — who is not in the chamber so I should not mention her name — raised this directly, and there was a clear commitment and understanding on the part — I’m looking for colleagues who were there to verify what I’m saying.

Senator Plett: We weren’t invited.