Hon. Pat Duncan: My question is for the Government Representative in the Senate.

Senator Gold, Canadians have recently seen increases in federal health care funding to the provinces and the territories. With these funding increases, Canada established certain benchmarks on a province-by-province, territory-by-territory basis. Canada has responsibility for health care for Indigenous peoples. As the former premier of Manitoba Gary Doer phrased it, Canada is the fourteenth province at the table when it comes to funding for First Nations health care.

Boutique programs like Jordan’s Principle have been established to address some shortfalls in existing services.

My questions are these: Has there been an increase in funding for health care delivery for Indigenous peoples in Canada beyond the boutique programs? Also, Senator Gold, if there has been such an increase, are there benchmarks set to show the effectiveness or improvement of service delivery as a result of the increase in health care funding for First Nations peoples?