Thank you, Chair.
I want to thank officials for the clarification, and I thank my colleague.
Mr. Chair, I don't think anyone in this room disagrees with the importance of this. I think every single one of us has made that commitment. Over time, it's simply sitting in the House and learning more and more in the work that we do and understanding how important this path is, but I would like to update committee members a bit.
The Department of Justice is currently working with indigenous leadership on an action plan for UNDRIP. My concern, which I wish to share, is that I would hate to see this as a unilateral imposition on the work that's being done in a codeveloped manner. I want to be able to respect the indigenous leadership that is at the table, working with the Department of Justice on the commitment that was made by legislators to UNDRIP.
With that commitment comes a work process for implementation. I wouldn't disagree with my colleague that it's slow, that there are frustrations and that it's hard. It's hard work to do and the clock has run out for many families and for many communities.
That being said, I would hate to see a situation where we are taking a unilateral move against that very important work. I know that a draft action plan is proposed to be issued by the end of June of this year for it to be considered as codeveloped with indigenous leadership. I want to make sure that the work we do here is complementary to that work, so that we are not getting ahead of that work and it's not perceived that the people in this room are trying to impose a pathway that isn't agreed upon.
That is my only concern, and I feel that it should be put out there as we weigh in on how we do this right. There is a sense of urgency, and I appreciate that, but I want to make sure that we get this right and that it can be implemented.
Currently, the agreements are jurisdictional. If there's no framework to implement them to protect FPIC by provinces that are in that agreement because there isn't a framework currently, I would hate for everyone in this room to be accused of putting something in that is hollow when indigenous children deserve more that. They deserve better.
Thank you, Chair.