It's a beginning. We are trying to listen.
The Supreme Court has said about the charter that it should be interpreted in a liberal and purposive way. When I say liberal, I don't mean the Liberal Party, but in an open, evolutionary way. I think that all the rights included in the charter and the Constitution have been interpreted throughout years of evolution. We're at the preliminary phase of recognizing the rights that aboriginal people inherently have to speak their language. We won't change the system overnight, and I would not suggest to you to do it overnight. We want to make sure that we recognize their identity and their capacity to speak their language. We'll adjust the system
according to the needs,
as much as they request it and as much as the budget allows. The minister has announced in this budget some funds to support the teaching of a second language in English provinces and in Quebec. We would hope to have much more money, but that's the amount of money we have.
On the other hand, you cannot deny the money. That would be equivalent to denying the rights. It would be meaningless, not worth the paper on which it's printed.
As I say, it's up to the responsible persons of the day, the government of the day, the MPs and the senators, to see how we will adjust the system. Both of us are happy to be here to talk to you about how we have adjusted the system in the Senate, because we thought it was the proper thing to do. We didn't work under a Supreme Court injunction that said, “Now you can speak Inuktitut or you can speak Cree or Dene.” We thought it was the right thing to do as Canadians.