Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Dear committee members, what a pleasure it is to see you again, in particular Ms. May, our colleague from British Columbia.
I must congratulate you, Ms. May. It is always wonderful to see you and discuss things in person.
First nations topics are dear to my heart, and with good reason. I have had the privilege of being an elected official for nearly 14 years now: I was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Quebec for 7 years and have been sitting in the House of Commons for another 7 years. I have always had the great honour of representing the Wendake community. It is indeed a great privilege, and I am very lucky, because my parents moved in 1962 to a site barely a mile from the Wendake community. I grew up with these people. I know them and I love them. They love me back, too, and I most grateful.
I am proud to represent this community, which I think is the best. You can see that I am not impartial here. These people have always been proud and I think that we have succeeded in living in harmony together in the Quebec region. This is inspirational for me, but we must not forget the major concerns that we all have for first nations.
The bill before us brings into focus a human tragedy that, unfortunately, is not only occurring in our country. I am talking about discrimination towards first nations. We will always remember that poignant moment on June 11, 2008, when the Prime Minister apologized on behalf of Canada to first nations for the tragedy that was the residential schools. We should remember that this was the only time in the history of Canada that a first nations grand chief spoke to all parliamentarians. We cannot allow ourselves to forget.
As I stated, I have been lucky to live with hard-working people in Wendake. It is a community of 2,000 souls which has more than 200 private businesses, and therefore many entrepreneurs. Since I was very little, I have noticed that the people of my community have always been partners in prosperity, and I am a proud 58-year-old. They expect nothing from anyone, they are independent and they establish partnerships with people around them.
Ms. May, my question is for you.
We cannot undo history, but we can hope to shape the future differently.
Do you think that first nations must be partners in any of the big projects that are currently underway, whatever they may be, if they have a direct impact on indigenous territories?
I think that first nations should be partners in these projects and partners in prosperity to eliminate as much as possible any sign of racism, whether overt or covert, even though it might be impossible to completely eradicate racist thoughts in some people.