Thank you.
Good morning National Chief. It is an honour and pleasure to welcome you today. I would like to make a short preamble, just as you did.
Your election, which lasted almost 24 hours, was the first time since Quebec's national holiday in the 1970s that I went to bed at 7:30 in the morning.
On a more serious note, I was in Calgary and some of my colleagues were there as well—I saw a number of them there—and I must say that I was truly impressed. It is important to me that you know that and share that with your colleagues. I was impressed by how much responsibility the chiefs and their assistants had. They—including many aboriginal women who are now chiefs—did exceptional work during the days they spent in Calgary. I saw that it was not just the election of a National Chief that was important; there were many other issues.
Today, you are lucky to have before you members of the government and others who aspire to form the next government. The issue I am interested in is how to eliminate the 2% cap. In your inaugural address, you said that education was extremely important, but if the 2% cap remains I do not know how you will manage given the birth rate in your communities. How can we, as MPs, intervene with the government? What initiatives have you taken to urge the government to eliminate this cap?