Dennis Patterson, Nunavut.

Thank you, minister, for your presentation. I think we all know that this is the end of a very long journey with the FNFA, and this committee has been part of the progress over the years with good support from your government. This bill is very welcome in my view.

I know the good work that has been accomplished. The FNFA has issued over a billion dollars in debentures helping facilitate. You gave some examples, but it helped facilitate the purchase of Clearwater by the Mi’kmaq and empower Indigenous communities to manage their own finances, as you have said.

However, I also know that stable, long-term, dedicated core funding has sometimes been an issue, and there have been concerns about timelines between negotiating for, receiving and needing to spend that money. My question is this: Has your government committed to five- or ten-year core funding agreements for these institutions, A-Base funding?

Thanks for that answer.

The act also meets a long-standing request to establish the First Nations Infrastructure Institute, and I’m very pleased to see this. I know it has been a long-standing aim of the folks who are leading this initiative.

My question is this: We have a Canada Infrastructure Bank with an Indigenous component, which has been added recently, and I would like to know how you see the First Nations Infrastructure Institute launching with this other source of Indigenous infrastructure funds in the Canada Infrastructure Bank. Has the government figured out who’s going to do what, I guess, to be crude about it?

I think the creation of an Indigenous infrastructure component in the Canada Infrastructure Bank is welcome, but I’m just wondering if it needs to be clarified how that funding will work, who will be eligible and what the mandate of the infrastructure institute created by this bill will correspondingly be?

Thank you.

Mr. Duschenes thank you for your clear answer to my question about long-term funding, A-Base funding. The source of this funding is stable, federal funding sources. Your minister said the grant-based model won’t go away.

You might agree that for the significant projects that we hope will come out of these progressive amendments, 10-year commitments would be more appropriate for long-term strategic planning purposes. You have been clear. There are three- and five-year commitments. Could those not be extended further, with the stability that this act will provide, for 10 years?

Minister Miller invited me to ask Mr. Jules the question about how you see the First Nation Infrastructure Institute mandate working alongside the Canada Infrastructure Bank and its Indigenous component.