Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to all our witnesses for being with us today to discuss this very important issue for us in the NDP. We believe it is important to be serious and responsible in the context of a reconciliation approach, a nation-to-nation relationship. This is really a priority for us.
As a non-indigenous person, I am fortunate to be part of a caucus that includes first nations representatives. We have Leah Gazan from Winnipeg, Blake Desjarlais, a Métis from Edmonton, and Lori Idlout, who is Inuit and represents Nunavut. So this topic is part of our discussions and proposals.
I also want to highlight the work my former colleague Romeo Saganash did to bring about the acceptance of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as part of federal legislation. There's still a lot of work to be done, but we're on that path.
Ms. Semaganis, I really liked your testimony. You became quite passionate, quite emotional even, when you talked about the issue of drinking water and access to water.
Could you explain to us exactly where things stand? What is being done and what is not being done?
What is the reality on the ground for communities that unfortunately don't have access to something as basic as water?