Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will start with Justice Berger.
You have a unique name, Mr. Justice. We sometimes hear the expression, “once a judge, always a judge”. Your name, Thomas, can be pronounced Thomas, just as Berger can be pronounced Berger; in that respect, I think it would be hard to figure out which of our two founding nations you are from.
I may not share your ideas on education. My riding includes the region of Nunavik. The committee has also been to Nunavut, and whenever we talk about making education available in the language and culture of the various nations, we hit a brick wall. The communities do not have any housing for teachers who would come and teach local people educational theory. Then those people could give classes on respecting their culture.
There is a university out west. A first nations university pavilion was established in Val d'Or, in eastern Canada. I got a visit from my friend, Pita Aatami, and he told me that he refused to be recognized as a member of the first nations. He said that if he could not be recognized as an Inuk, he wanted to be considered an Eskimo. In recognition of that reality, the Université du Québec changed the name of the pavilion from “First Nations Pavilion” to “First Peoples Pavilion” in order to reach members of the various communities. The university is willing to offer courses online instead of building residences for teachers to learn on site. That would probably cost the government less than building residences for teachers, when local residents are already complaining about seeing white people housed on their land when they themselves do not have housing. What is your opinion on that, as a judge?