Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you for being here.
As you know, I represent Nunavik, as well as the Cree from James Bay. The Cree have told me that they have a lot of money. I have been in Cree villages. When you get up at 5 or 5:30 in the morning and you see 8- or 9-year-old children who are high as a kite or who have a bottle of beer in their hands, you ask them what they are doing and why. In turn, they ask you what else there is to do. It gives you food for thought.
At the same time, we have seen non-native villages, also isolated, where there is a lot of money. However, the suicide rate is the same. The way they commit suicide may be a little different.
I, myself, am an orphan. I was sent to residential schools, and I drove first nations’ families who were bringing their children to residential schools. I saw parents cry when they left their children and cry even more when we went back to get them because they could not communicate with them anymore. The children didn’t speak the same language their parents did.
I know there have been agreements. I see we have the First Nations Child and Family Services Joint National Policy Review. I will ask you the following question, and then the three of you can respond, if you wish.
What measures have been taken to implement these recommendations since the 2006 report on the action plan? How would you like to see all of the programs implemented, if we could negotiate nation to nation?
The floor is yours.