Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Even for the mandatory training that my colleague Leila was talking about, we have to bring them out to do the practice side. Nursing is a practice-oriented learning process. Technology can be used for some theory, but it's usually done in the universities and colleges. We are using telehealth for training, but it's more like specific time-limited training activities to update their skills on some subject—

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Most communities have a community health plan, and they have been funded to develop those plans. The basic factor is population size, and there is an adjustment for remoteness. There is an adjustment depending on the type of program, whether they are delivering it themselves or whether it's delivered by Health Canada.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  We are working on this with partners, including first nations. This is a tragic situation, and we have a responsibility in that context. As soon as first nations living on reserves are impacted, we have a role. I mentioned initially that we have a role in terms of providing health benefit services, health protection services, and nursing services.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  The 5% increase is for the non-insured health benefits program, which is for drugs, dental care, medical supplies, vision care, etc. There's a 5% escalator in that budget of around $1 billion. However, some programs have no escalator. This one has a 5% escalator—

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Exactly.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  That was in 2012.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I think the fund was created in 2008, but it was cut in 2012.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  That's an excellent question. Since the OAG report we have made some progress. Leila can give you some progress for each of the courses. These are the five mandatory courses that were identified by Health Canada in order to make sure that we prepare the nurses properly for the work they will have to perform in a remote and isolated community.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I'm going to share my time with my colleague, Keith, who can talk about the situation at Attawapiskat. He just visited the community, and is quite familiar with the file. I will talk about the La Loche situation. There is a reserve nearby, the Clearwater River Dene First Nation.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  The big challenge is to ensure that we can function with the national programs at a provincial level. Some provinces offer services to first nations on the reserves and in their communities, while others offer them no services or exclude them from their systems. Still other provinces provide primary health care to the communities.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  No, there is no reduction of spending on mental health. This is probably related to programs that are being renewed and will appear when we get to the supplementary estimates process.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Based on the mental wellness continuum framework, we started to invest a couple of years ago in building mental wellness teams. This is a model that has proven to be effective. At this time there are 10 or 11 being funded throughout the country. This is in addition to local mental health services.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Last year we spent around $300 million on mental health.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I cannot comment. Part of the framework is also to manage the funding that is already in place for these programs and to realign them under the framework. This was the intent of that framework, but also to inform future investment.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Actually, we are seeing constant growth in that budget, but I do not have the details with me today. With the transfer of health responsibilities to the British Columbia First Nations Health Authority, funding for the various components of the program was consolidated in a $140 million envelope that was transferred in its entirety to that agency.