Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First of all, I want to say that I'm very concerned about the Auditor General's findings that there are serious deficiencies in the delivery of child and family services, but that's not news to me. I have been involved at a national level working with the Council of Federation with the premiers, and every jurisdiction in Canada has serious deficiencies in delivery of child and family services.
I also chair the Aboriginal Affairs Working Group where Minister Abernethy and I led a review of best practices in childcare in all of the provinces and territories and we tabled a report, but that does not denigrate from the findings of the Auditor General. In my situation, I have to find out the seriousness of the matter. It's very serious. I read the Auditor General's report. The methodology that they used, they have reviewed 37 child files and 37 foster care files. They also said that the department provides protective and preventative services to over 1,000 children a year on average over the past 10 years. To me, one child in care that's not dealt with properly or who doesn't receive the proper care or protective care is an emergency.
I have to deal with becoming more involved with the file. As the Member said, I have some powers. The Legislative Assembly appoints the Ministers. I issue the portfolios. I have a couple of options. Before we get to those options, Members can speak to the Minister or we can have what we call "fire side chats," which in the past have proven very beneficial in improving our government's performance. If there are still concerns about the Minister's performance, as I said, I have two options. Either a Cabinet shuffle or one that we take very seriously and is a more serious is the removal of a Minister's portfolio.
I have reviewed the actions. I have looked at the report. It's a very serious situation. I believe that and I'm satisfied that the Minister has taken this issue seriously. It's very important for the public to know that this government is taken seriously. I'm waiting for my friend, the Auditor General of Canada, Michael Ferguson, to come on December 12th. I would like to discuss it in more detail because I don't know. I understood we dealt with the 2014 auditor in good faith, where we put in a foundation, and now for the report to come back and say, "Well, you know, you're worse off than you were before," I'm wondering what happened to their previous audit. I need more information. I know this is very serious. It's a very serious concern, and we are not going to take it lightly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.