Well, to be succinct, yes. Nation to nation, government to government, acknowledge and support and respect the treaties.
Also, we have to remember, and be reminded, that none of us created the Indian Act or reserve system or the status/non-status system. We inherited that. It was acknowledged by all parties, by the federal government in the apology in the summer of 2008, that historic approaches that were unilateral, and externally imposed, did not work. Not only that, they caused great trauma and great harm.
So what we hear from the elders and from indigenous peoples across all of the country is that we must be full partners going forward. I think that's the spirit of the space that we're entering into, a period of reconciliation between and amongst our peoples and between and amongst indigenous peoples and governments.
What better area than the area of species at risk in caring and concern for the environment? I grew up with those teachings with my late grandfather. We can't take the seals like we did when I was a kid because of the poisonings. In my territories, 27 of the rivers are gone. It doesn't matter where we go. Indigenous peoples are everywhere. We're throughout the entire country. We have that close relationship. It makes sense. In fact, it adds, as I said right at the outset, tremendous value.
I believe not only are there strong constitutional recognitions of treaty and title rights issues; I think what we're missing here is incredible potential, which is yet to be tapped in a way that would benefit all and benefit the environment.
That was a little bit more than succinct.