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Time and investment are required for a thoughtful and thorough examination into the underlying reasons for this national tragedy

The Privy Council Office (PCO) has allocated nearly $47 million for the inquiry in the supplementary estimates. An official with the PCO told a Commons committee last week that the figure includes about $38 million in new funding, while the rest is left over from the original $53 million.

“The total amount now is $92 million between the original money and this new money that’s been brought in,” said Matthew Shea, the PCO’s chief financial officer. The new funding was first reported by Ottawa political publication Blacklock’s Reporter.

Asked how the PCO will ensure that the budget is well spent, Shea said the office’s role is largely administrative.

Photo by Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press

“We operate at arm’s length with the commission of inquiry. We provide them support. They’re absolutely independent,” he said. “We are not there to decide if this is a good expenditure or a bad expenditure or the best return on investment. … We’re very, very focused on ensuring they have independence.”

The inquiry has faced criticism for disorganization and poor communication almost since its inception in September 2016. Its commissioners have laid some of the blame for slow progress at the government’s feet, saying they were hampered by delays in opening offices and hiring staff.

We found support for giving the inquiry more time to submit its final report, but little support for the commission’s mandate to extend beyond the next election

Their request in March for a two-year extension received a mixed reaction from Indigenous organizations, some of which felt the inquiry needed to wrap up quickly. In the end, Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett compromised and gave the inquiry until Apr. 30, 2019 to submit its final report, a six-month extension beyond the original Nov. 1 deadline.