Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I, too, would like to welcome Mr. Ste-Marie—not the member for Gabriel Ste-Marie. I made that mistake one time, Mr. Chair. I called him the “member for”.
Nonetheless, I think this amendment does justice. There was a similar amendment that did not have that piece in there. I think it's important to note that we are dealing with a piece of legislation that is directly connected to the Constitution of Canada and is ensuring that we can bring realization to section 35.
I remember that when I was first elected, I didn't realize that section 35 existed. I had seen the paper that they hand out at school around the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. This is on the next page. It's kind of like the first page of a Google search. Nobody reads past the first page of Google. That's what happens with the charter.
I remember that in school we read the charter often, but I didn't realize when I got here that there was a page two or a part II, which starts with section 35. I remember that when I first got to the committee, that was a complaint that many people who came to this committee pointed out. They said that section 35 rights need to be recognized.
I remember the chief of the Assembly of First Nations coming here. I'll never forget the term he used. He just spoke about an empty box or a full box.
I guess that is what we're dealing with here today. We're trying to establish what is in that box and what is not in that box.
Here we are making this amendment to the bill to ensure that Parliament will fulfill its duties under section 35 of the Constitution.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.