Let me say this. There is one particular amendment that we would support as long as it doesn't.... I'll tell you why.
Thank you for your kind words.
The reason we're not making any amendments.... This is not a perfect document—all of us in this room know that—but it's a good document. It's a starting document. For us, we can change it as we move forward. It's no different from.... We're still fighting the Constitution in this country, in Canada right now, and how it will work for all of us, and we still have work to do on that issue for sure.
This particular document is not a perfect document. I did make reference to it in my report. You'll find it on page 7 at the second bullet. If there were to be any changes, there is only one amendment that the Métis nation would support—the addition of the term “racism” and “systemic racism and discrimination” to subparagraph 6(2)(a)(i), which speaks to the measures contained in the action plan to be developed. This is consistent with our priority to address systemic racism, discrimination and violence against indigenous peoples and indigenous elders, youth, children, women, men, persons with disabilities, and gender-diverse persons and two-spirit persons.
That's as long as it does not hold up this bill. This bill needs to get in and get royal assent for us to make history and for us to show the world why this country is ranked number one.
For me, the reason you're not seeing amendments from the Métis nation is that we want this to get through royal assent first. We can still fix it in the future, because it's not a perfect document.