Hon. Brian Francis: Senator Gold, I rise today to ask about the status of the Residential School Documents Advisory Committee, which was given a short mandate to assist with identifying, reviewing and sharing federal documents not transferred to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, or NCTR, as stipulated under the 2006 settlement agreement.

Last July, the Committee on Indigenous Peoples specifically called for adequate funding to expedite this work. However, in August, the chairman and other independent members suspended their participation in the committee because of minimal funding to fulfill its mandate, after repeated requests to fund an independent audit and other activities.

Senator Gold, given its stated commitment to reconciliation, will the federal government reconsider and urgently provide the additional funding requested by the Residential School Documents Advisory Committee?

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you, senator, for your question and for underlining the critical work that is being done — and, indeed, which needs to be done — as we continue on this important path toward reconciliation.

I would be happy to work with you. We should speak further so I can attempt to better respond to your question.

Senator Francis: Senator Gold, on a related note, will the federal government also commit to providing adequate funding to ensure the NCTR can manage the likely millions of outstanding records from Canada and the Catholic Church that are to be housed by the archive?

We need answers to these critical questions on an urgent and priority basis.

Senator Gold: Again, let’s work together and see if we can make progress on this.