Thank you for your question.
Absolutely.
I should also note that I'm a registered social worker. I work in a psychiatric hospital in my home community. This is where the intersection of my elected position and my social work position comes into play. I have conversations on a daily basis with young people about how they are affected by this misinformation. My community in particular—the Georgian Bay community—has been called into question. We've been called frauds, not real and not actually existent. You don't know what that does to a person until you see it in big, bold letters in academic articles or newspapers. To see your community called out.... Your family history feels as if it's been erased.
That's what makes people anxious. If we're seeing these questions and call-outs happen, what's next? We don't know, but I can assure you that Métis young people across Ontario know who we are. We are proud. We are born and raised in our communities, as Hayden shared earlier. That is something that is unequivocal and firm for Métis young people, which helps with the anxiety.