Thank you, Madam Chair.
I want to thank everyone.
Your testimony is extremely deep. It is a look at the issue of aboriginal artifacts. It's not theory, and it is not a set of columns in a budget; we are discussing the entire relationship with history.
Ms. Beam, as an artist—and I have noted that you are an excellent painter—and as a member of the aboriginal commissioners collective, you had to talk to an artist who had closer look at what is happening at the Smithsonian Institution. You could not get that information firsthand. It's not something you could go see.
I understand very well what you just explained by giving the example of your ceramicist colleague from Manitoulin Island. This goes beyond cultural mediation with “white southerners”. It's a search for personal and emotional identity.
Ms. Phillips provided a list of works that need to be found. I am under the impression that the ideal is often the worst enemy of the better. I foresee many complex steps to be made, but I got the impression from Ms. Pash that it was urgent to stipulate that, with the exception of gifts made to consuls or ambassadors, overall, a sort of pillaging has taken place. You are claiming the right to not only recover the items, but also obtain damages. That is part of the reconciliation movement.
Ms. Pash or Ms. Beam, would you like to answer this question?