Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Boissonnault, for making the tremendous effort to appear before the committee today. I know this is not an easy task.
Mr. Chair, indigenous identity and heritage are obviously very important to us in the north and in the Yukon, as are the nature and practice of first nations procurement.
Mr. Boissonnault, through the chair, as the minister for tourism previously, and then for ESDC and official languages, you've been a great friend to the north and certainly a frequent and welcome visitor to the north. I have never heard you claim indigenous identity. You've always been very well received by first nations chiefs and leaders in our territory. I wanted to put that on the record.
In your testimony, you said:
I am committed to doing my best to always be clear about my history and to be a better ally for Indigenous people. I have learned much from this difficult experience and my commitment to reconciliation has never been stronger.
Those are words to take note of.
Mr. Boissonnault, I'd like you to take an opportunity to expand on what you have learned through this experience and what you can share with all of us as members of Parliament.