Thank you very much for the opportunity to ask a few questions. My colleague Mr. Blaney is going to share his time with me.
I have been listening very carefully. Although I have not been a part of this committee, I did spend a number of years previously working on this very issue.
What I wanted to assure you of, Chief Balfour, is that I spent two years dealing with only this issue, and I spoke with aboriginal people across this country. I was in sweat lodges. I was on back roads. I was in reserves. I was meeting people in restaurants, wherever they cared to meet, to get feedback. Part of that feedback was on matrimonial rights, property rights, education, hierarchy within aboriginal bands, and the effect it had on aboriginal peoples.
Granted, I did not speak to a single chief. That wasn't my job. My job was to speak to band members only, and that's what I did.
That information was compiled. And now that we're in government, I fully believe that everything that I gathered over those two years is being used in this piece of legislation.
So thank you for the opportunity to listen today, and thank you for the opportunity to address you.