Minister, welcome. It's great to have you here. This is the first time since I've joined the committee that I've been able to be here with you present. It's great to see you.
Welcome to the officials, and thank you for also being here today.
Because I'm fairly new to this committee, I'd like to start with a bit of a high-level question, just to get your thoughts on why this piece of legislation is important to reconciliation in Canada. We've heard that the act itself has been in place since 2005. Now we're in 2023 and we're putting forward a number of amendments. Why is it at this point in time that this legislation is needed? Could you give us a sense of that? Particularly if there are others who are new to the table or watching who may be interested in why this legislation is before the House, it would be great to hear from you on that.