Canadian Heritage Committee on Oct. 2nd, 2018

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

I must say that this spiritual aspect is a revelation for me. Beyond the heritage aspect, I did not foresee this spiritual element. Although I have been working with Romeo Saganash, an exceptional human being, that aspect is always something to be relearned. I must always get familiar with that reality again.

Thank you very much for your testimony.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dabrusin]

Did you want two minutes, Mr. Hogg? We have two minutes.

[Gordie Hogg, Liberal, South Surrey—White Rock, BC]

I'll talk as fast as I can. Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dabrusin]

Well, be nice to the translators.

[Gordie Hogg, Liberal, South Surrey—White Rock, BC]

Regional Chief Googoo, you talked about the Assembly of First Nations not taking a position on this bill, and then you listed a number of things you thought needed to be done to make it better, such as funding, repatriation, looking at cultural items, developing domestic and international catalogues, and co-development processes in legislation.

A lot of the things we were talking about seem to be things that need to be attached around the bill in terms of resources to make the bill function. I think we've talked about both of those things, rather than just focusing on the bill, and I understand that. That's an important part of it, being able to change.

The Semiahmoo people where I live had a welcoming pole taken down by the department of highways about 10 years ago and trucked off someplace. It took years to find it. They just put it up. The province has paid for putting it up at the Peace Arch border crossing. It's a beautiful Haida pole.

Bill Casey came to talk to us about this bill and said that we just want to get on with it and get something happening. Do you think this could be phased in, so that we could actually pass some of the legislation that talks about getting it there and then build all of these other pieces? If we're going to do all of the things we want to do and tie it to, it's going to take us a much longer time and it will be much more robust and difficult than what Bill Casey was proposing, which was to raise some awareness about this to see if we can get something happening. Do you think this is something that could happen in two stages or phases?

[Regional Chief Morley Googoo]

We wanted to make sure we don't stay silent on this issue because it's very important, but at the same time we also take direction from our assembly. With this bill, come December, it's definitely something we're going to talk about as an assembly so that some resolution can come from it. That's just the protocol I have in speaking here on behalf of AFN.

[Gordie Hogg, Liberal, South Surrey—White Rock, BC]

We have a protocol here, too.

[Regional Chief Morley Googoo]

Yes, I understand. I think the whole objective has been out of sight and out of mind all this time. Sometimes it's not sexy to talk about this kind of stuff, but it's very important, especially when we're in a period of reconciliation.

[Gordie Hogg, Liberal, South Surrey—White Rock, BC]

Absolutely. Thank you.

[Regional Chief Morley Googoo]

I'd just like to make one more comment. I just want to mention a quick story for my wrap-up of why it's so important to tell my story as a Mi'kmaq person and have the artifacts to help me tell the correct story. We were influenced so much during the time when our ceremonies and everything else were looked at as witchcraft. Our artifacts were looked at as costumes and very beautiful decorations.

I just lost my headdress last year in France when I took the kids there. They sailed the Atlantic Ocean from Halifax to France on a tall ship, and somewhere along the way it disappeared. It was my headdress and vest. I couldn't find them.

It's still beautiful, and people love it. Why is it so important for us? Every one of you here has ancestry somewhere that connects back to your home country, and you use the story all the time. How many times have you seen a movie in which a person loses themselves, and they go on a trip back home, whether it's Scotland, Ireland or England, and they come back as a new person afterwards, after they find themselves? As a Mi'kmaq person, where do I go? I'm in Mi'kmaq territory. My grandkids cannot go anywhere else if I don't do my part to tell the real story of what's left here in Mi'gma'gi. It's the same with the Algonquin, the Cree and the Dene—all of us.

All this time Canada has looked at us as one group of the same people, but I have a responsibility. There is no movie that I can make about a kid who goes to England or Spain and finds himself. If I don't do my part here, and we don't do this part, that kid is going to be even more lost. We know the stories of suicide today and the people we've lost. We all have a responsibility to make a really positive solution.

I wanted to just close with that story. Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dabrusin]

I think that's actually a perfect place to end our discussion today, so thank you very much for that.

Thank you to all of our witnesses.

That brings this 122nd meeting to an end.

The meeting is adjourned.