I open this meeting of the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development of Tuesday, February 13, 2007.
Committee members, you have the orders of the day before you. This morning we'll be having a briefing on aboriginal housing. The witnesses today are from the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. We have Claire Dansereau, senior assistant deputy minister, social economic policy and regional operations. She is with Mr. Marc Brooks. We have Fred Caron, assistant deputy minister, office of the federal interlocutor.
We also have with us Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, represented by Sharon Matthews, vice-president of assisted housing; Deborah Taylor, director of aboriginal housing.
We also have the Health Canada, represented by Ian Potter, assistant deputy minister, first nations and Inuit health branch.
We'll begin with the brief that has been circulated, and then we'll get on to questions.
Welcome to our witnesses. Thank you very much for your time today. Who would like to start?