Thank you, Mr. Chair. To my right, I have Mr. David Stewart, who is the deputy minister of Finance and also secretary to the FMB. To my left, I have Mr. Sandy Kalgutkar, deputy secretary to the FMB. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Welcome to the witnesses. Committee, the departmental total is on page 135. As usual, we will defer that until after consideration of the individual activities, of which there are five, followed by some information items. The first activity is directorate, and it can be found on page 139. I will open the floor to comments or questions on directorate. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I am not even sure if this is the right place to ask, but is there any information about the Heritage Fund? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. It is under the management board secretariat, but if the Member wishes, he can ask the questions in this particular area.

Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I will wait until we get to the management board secretariat, and I just found my page here. It is 151. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Any further comments or questions on directorate? Seeing none, I will call this activity. Finance, directorate, operations expenditures summary, $76,134,000. Does committee agree?

Thank you, committee. Turning to the second activity, human resources, beginning on page 143 and continuing to page 145. Comments or questions on human resources? I will give committee a moment. Mr. Thompson.

Sorry. Hopefully this is the section, human resources. I have heard people concerned about affirmative action and it not being implemented properly. Does the department encourage or work with other departments to set up succession planning so that Indigenous people are able to move forward into a position of management? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The short answer is yes. We work with all of our Indigenous employees, and I think that there are a couple of programs to try to get them some management experience. If employees are identified as though they might be able to move through the system and are capable of becoming managers, then we would work with them to give them the proper training that they need to move them along. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Can employees identify themselves for management or to look at getting to be trained in this area? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I suppose that the employees can identify themselves as potential candidates for moving through the system. Again, identifying yourself is one thing. Being capable of doing the work that is assigned to you and moving through the system is another matter, but I don't think that anything stops them from self-identifying. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just lost my thought here for a second. It is good to see that, and I understand that. When people are given the opportunity to apply for jobs and they are not successful, what is the appeal mechanism? Do they have the opportunity to appeal the process? I guess, what is the mechanism for people who appeal? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. Stewart.

Thank you. Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that clarification. If a person appeals, are they able to receive all of the notes that are part of the interview process? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. Stewart.