[Member spoke in Inuktitut, interpreted as follows:]
First of all, I want to thank you for your presentation. What you say to us is very important. Thank you for sharing certain aspects of your lives, because as indigenous peoples we have suffered under certain regimes. We were oppressed by others. We are similar. We are indigenous. We're like a family. I believe that we are almost alike. We've been through the same experiences, because education was used as a tool for assimilation.
If we are going to keep moving towards reconciliation, and if Canada is going to pursue reconciliation, yes, we need funding to encourage reconciliation through education. What my colleague said, or what one of our presenters said, is very true. There is a need for new schools. I was in Hall Beach just recently, and they're lacking space. There's not enough room for students there.
There are many things still lacking that need to be met. There was a time when I was in Arivat before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. They were expecting a new school to be built, because the school they had was overcrowded. Once the pandemic hit, the funding that was allocated for building that new school vanished. Nobody knows where it went. Yes, there is a desperate need for funding to build schools.
[English]
After that summary, I wanted to ask my question in English because I feel like I can't ask it in Inuktitut the way that I would want to.
I would love for all three witnesses to answer this question.
We've known now for a couple of decades that education is not a part of history, but is continuing to be used as a colonial tool to continue to oppress and suppress indigenous peoples. Too many Canadians don't understand that, and that's why we talk about systemic racism.
I wonder if each of you could give an explanation as to why that funding is so important. The reason I wanted this study to happen is that I've lived this experience of systemic racism with the colonial education system. I see the struggles that first nations, Métis and Inuit have had and that we continue to have, yet we still continue to want more education, because we want to be contributing Canadians. Other Canadians would say that they're going to save money and send their kids to school, but for first nations, Métis and Inuit, we still struggle to have that reality because of the oppressive and suppressive policies that continue to impact our realities.
I wonder if you would have some recommendations you can share with this committee to make sure that we're actually trying to make a difference so we are able to say, “Here's where the money can go to.”
I don't know how to ask in a simple way how you can help to educate more parliamentarians so that we do see actual change. What are your recommendations? What would you say to the committee? What do you say to us now so that we could see immediate change later?