[Witness speaks in Hul'q'umin'um']
I don't speak my language, but I speak the best I can, and that's the impact of residential schools and colonialism. Our elders always tell us to speak what we're able to speak, and speak it with pride, so I try my best.
What I basically said is that on behalf of my people of the Snuneymuxw, I would like us to bring forward all of these ideas with an open heart and an open mind. That's all we can ask.
As the executive director with the IRSSS for the past eight years, talking and interacting with all the survivors, from across B.C. and from other provinces, who are doing their statements, I've heard the worst of the worst.
Canada has the opportunity now to lift the veil of shame that was placed upon us. That's how we grew up. I may not have gone to a residential school; residential school came home to me, and that wasn't fair to me or my children.
I say with my heart, if you're going to do this, do it right. Don't throw it out there as a band-aid solution. It has to be right. It can't be half done. It has to provide the education and the commemoration and the stories that were listed here today. It's not just about a paid holiday off. I don't agree with having a paid holiday off if all we're going to do is stay at home. What I do believe in is that it has to provide the context behind it. It has to provide information with regard to why this day is so important. It has to have all of those things available to every single Canadian out there, because when we have Canadians that don't understand our history, we have a problem. This great country is known across the world as having open arms to diversity, when not so long ago it wasn't open to our own people.
I say this to you: If we're going to do this, let's do it right.
[Witness speaks in Hul'q'umin'um']