Absolutely. I think that, as we've seen, it's been a learning lesson with proof points. I think that's been said to us often and has been advocated and is self-evident for indigenous communities and less self-evident for federal government bodies. What we've seen through COVID are proof points, such as on-the-land learning and on-the-land isolation for physical health and mental health and the proven tangible results. I think there's something to learn from this COVID epidemic in how we can support local knowledge for protecting their own people, particularly as it relates to mental health. Obviously, that is no excuse for the federal government stepping back when there is a need, but it is a further reminder that we should do so in partnership and not with Ottawa in a top-down position.
On June 10th, 2021. See this statement in context.