Once again we are going to have to debate. I know that there is going to be indigenous leadership watching this. I know that families and kids who are now fighting for compensation because of the abuse they experienced in care or because they're having identity issues because they were brought up away from their families are watching this right now, and we have an opportunity to do the right thing.
We are in different parties, but human rights are a non-partisan issue, and we can demonstrate an act of reconciliation by voting together today to remedy a system that has caused irreparable ongoing damage to indigenous families. Again, there are more kids in care now than at the height of residential schools, something that we always scoff at, or the fact that women and girls, men and boys are going missing and getting murdered. If you look at the research, you see that most of them spent time in child welfare away from family and community. Their families weren't given the same financial resources because this country doesn't recognize the way we care for our children, just as it did not recognize this kind of child care during residential school times, care that includes kinship and customary care arrangements in our community.
I'm pretty sure of the outcome, but I just want to bring the point home when it comes to violence in our communities. If you can't take a stand on child welfare.... You can still do the right thing here. I'm again going to ask everybody here to please do the right thing and vote for what indigenous leaders have fought for, which is child welfare reform, so that we don't have to do Jordan's principle settlements, whereby the Liberal government tries to give half the money that is owed as a result of kids in care.
I'm going to leave it there. Thank you.