Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to the presenters today. A very interesting discussion is happening.
I'm probably the only sitting MP who has gone to a residential school. I received compensation for my attendance at an Indian residential school, and for attending a federal Indian day school. I received two different levels of compensation, but I didn't put in a claim for abuse, because I didn't want to admit that I was a victim. I didn't want that to define me, so I took what was offered and walked away.
I think many people did that, because we grew up in a time when we were taught to be ashamed of who we were. We were denied the use of our languages. My parents both spoke three languages. I speak maybe one and a half. My children speak one. We weren't allowed to hunt migratory birds at certain times of the year. The first nations people in my community couldn't vote, and they couldn't consume alcohol. That made it very difficult. Most people didn't want to be recognized as indigenous.
Now times have changed. We're starting to see programs come forward, especially with the Liberal government—decent programs that are supporting indigenous people and indigenous governments. The federal government has had a procurement program in place for over 30 years.
I'd like to ask both of you if you could tell me why you think it's taken this long for the conversation to happen around the indigenous business directory. Is it because we're finally starting to see the government recognize that it has to do more, so there's an opportunity that people are trying to take advantage of?