Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'm sorry I couldn't be here for the first part of your presentation. But, being a bit of a speed reader, I did manage to read the brief you submitted and to hear what you said after oral question period.
I'd like to explore one of the points you raised. There's a huge myth about the financial assistance the Government of Canada has been providing to aboriginal communities for over a century. The myth of so-called handouts exists in the general population, among whites and other non-aboriginals.
You talked about the Crown's fiduciary responsibility toward first nations, in part because the white people—the French first and later the English—came and confiscated land. This was land that wasn't won through war. Later, other land was transferred under treaties, and in exchange, the Crown had a duty toward first nations.
That responsibility still exists because there was no expiry date in the treaties. For example, if I sign a contract with Mr. Poilievre without indicating any expiry date, I will be obliged to give him a sum of money, for example, or to look after him or his descendants in perpetuity. So, even 200 years later, that agreement is still valid and the obligation still exists.
In my opinion, all parties that have been in power in Canada have wronged the first nations by failing to educate people of French or British origin and people of all other ethnic origins who arrived subsequently.
Does that make sense?