Thanks, Mr. Chair.
I thank the witnesses for being here today.
You talked about elders in the first nation communities, which brings me back to a story from 1984 that I need to allude to. I was stationed with the RCMP in New Aiyansh. At the time, a constable by the name of Alex Angus was in Greenville. I went down to Greenville one day to talk to Alex and went into the detachment there. Inside one of the cabinets was a big bag of dope. I asked Alex where he got it. He said that he took it from a young fellow. I asked him what he did and if he had charged the young fellow. He said, “No, we went for a walk”. I said, “A walk?” He said, “Yes, a three-day walk”. I said, “A three-day walk? And...?” He said, “He won't do it again.”
This brings up the fact that in our society, in our white society, we don't recognize the value of elders and the opportunities that bring us forward. I want you to talk a little about the importance in your culture of healing circles and of sweat lodges, from the perspective of how we can use that to—“influence” is a bad word, but I'm going to use that word—influence the youth to understand where the elders have come from, from the past, and how they can learn from it.