It's a very good question. It is probably the fundamental challenge we have faced as a people, to be falling through the cracks and not to be recognized as indigenous people. Now that we've won most of our cases in the Supreme Court of Canada and that we are without doubt section 35 rights-bearing people, we believe that this will carry a greater sense of recognition and assurance by governments, whether provincial or federal, that they have to define and work with the Métis nation.
Our children were taken without identification of where they were. In many of our families, it was because they were poor. All of our children, I'm sorry, were taken because we're poor. It wasn't because we weren't good parents. We're always good parents, but because we were the working poor, child welfare robbed us of our children.
In a lot of that, we couldn't identify and find out where they were. There was no proper record-keeping of those children. Unfortunately for us, because we're off reserve, no one kept a good record base of our people and their children. That's why it was such a difficult challenge to find them in the United States, to track them down. In fact, we just found one recently who can't come home because they can't get a Canadian passport. They're no longer Canadian, and they want to come home. We're working with Canada to try to fix that issue.
You're absolutely right, the biggest challenge the Métis have faced is because nobody would define us or want to define us for fear that they might become financially responsible for us. I've always taken this position if I can, Mr. Robillard. I've taken the position that, as Canadians, we have paid billions of dollars in taxes in this country. Even as a Canadian, I'm not treated as a Canadian because I'm treated as aboriginal or indigenous, but then when I get to that side of the table, then nobody wants to recognize that I have that right. We've been definitely, probably, the biggest losers when it comes to true identification. That has caused great harm and damage to many of our families and children.