Thank you.
In support of my colleague from the coalition, I want to make it very clear to the committee that we're not here to tell you that the coalition members regret signing their treaties. That's not what we're saying. Not one coalition member here regrets signing their treaties. I want to make that clear. What we're here to tell you is that those treaties are sacred. They represent a hard-fought compromise.
I say, with all due respect, that nobody compromised more than the aboriginal signatories to those treaties. Of course we have a lot invested in them, and we want to see them work not only for our aboriginal groups and governments, but indeed all of Canada.
Let's be perfectly clear here. What our treaties call for is institutional change. That's what we're asking for. Notwithstanding the political goodwill from whichever government happens to be in power, without that significant institutional change, nothing will change, and the sad reality is that our treaties will not be able to maximize their potential value.