Hon. Brian Francis: Good afternoon, minister. Last Wednesday marked the birthday of the late Jordan River Anderson, who inspired the creation of Jordan’s Principle to ensure no other First Nations children suffered as he did.

Yet, nearly two decades later, too many still struggle to get timely and equitable access to essential care. Last February, Indigenous Services Canada added new rules and restricted services, leading to more delays and confusion.

Minister, you have publicly committed to revising these changes. What solutions will your department introduce to reduce the massive backlog of approximately 140,000 unresolved applications, including 25,000 marked as “urgent,” and fully and properly deliver on the promise of Jordan’s Principle? And how will you track and report on progress?

Hon. Mandy Gull-Masty, P.C., M.P., Minister of Indigenous Services: Thank you, senator. This has been the most important file in my ministry. There is an urgency in this file. There is critical work which needs to be done. I have spent the entirety of my summer engaging with partners to address the decisions made in the bulletin issued last February.

As a minister, I have to acknowledge that there were decisions made in this ministry that didn’t align with the objectives of what Jordan’s Principle was doing.

Earlier this year, I also heard from the father of Jordan River Anderson who stated, “This program is a legacy to my son. This program needs to return to the place where it began.” As a minister, I am going to respect the request of that family.

In my next steps on this file, I am going to ensure that I will first begin with the engagement of identifying with my partners and with community what that space is. That is how you define the service you are going to offer. I don’t only look at consultations as a necessary part of my role as a minister; it is also an obligation for me to ensure that if I’m going to change something, I’m doing it where I’m going to meet and maximize the response that I’m providing to community. My department has been directed to follow their lead.

Senator Francis: Thank you, minister. The bottom line is that under Jordan’s Principle, Canada has a legal duty to deliver timely and equitable access to care, and your department needs to manage its resources and capacity more effectively to deliver a program that truly puts our children first. I hope that you will be able to make real progress and commit to greater transparency, accountability and certainty.

Ms. Gull-Masty: Thank you. Of course, we have a shared objective. I have instructed my department to come back to me with a strategy that ensures the capacity we have internally meets the needs of what we are doing regarding engagement with our partners, ensuring we have people in place who are able to respond to the backlog.

I want to address the backlog. In the backlog, there are components that are reapplications and components that we are treating sequentially. Sometimes that is a challenge. Having clear criteria in what is applicable is a tool that I believe will give the department better capacity to respond to the requests.