[Witness spoke in Cree]
[English]
I'll keep my comments relatively short. They're pretty much in line with Mr. Wright's presentation, although I doubt I'll sound as eloquent.
I'm a recently elected grand chief. This is my first time in office. I was elected in July. I am grand chief of nine communities and two emergent communities.
I want to share something that happened at the very beginning of my term. Being relatively new to the office and having worked mostly as an attorney, I had a pretty narrow view of the challenges our communities faced. Quickly, on seeing the social problems we were dealing with—problems with overcrowding and housing, employment problems with our exploding population and the challenges of holding on to our culture and language—I called a meeting quite early on with all of my chiefs. I was feeling a little overwhelmed. This wasn't at all what I was expecting.
Even though we spent all day talking about heartbreaking issues, I was really surprised at the optimism of my chiefs and my staff. I wondered what was going on. It took me a little while to realize.... One of my fellow chiefs pulled me aside and took me under their wing. This is when I saw that this year, we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement, which has been amended 30 times. We have the Cree-Canada new relationship agreement and the Cree-Canada governance agreement. These have tools that allow my chiefs and my staff to look at challenges we're facing with optimism and a sense of empowerment.
When I saw that this hearing was coming up, and in reading the brief that was tabled before and looking at all the exchanges that were happening, I thought it was important to point out...I love that the word “relationship” is being used so much. In the Cree nation, we're proud of all the relationships we've had in the past. We're proud of our current relationship with the Government of Canada.
This commissioner and the way this bill was developed would allow us to stand shoulder to shoulder with Canada, instead of face to face, where we're each alone on either side.
The Cree Nation Government made a submission in June 2024. I didn't agree with every recommendation made. I guess it's good that I wasn't a grand chief then, because attorneys who represent themselves have an idiot for a client, apparently. The ones I did agree with, you accepted, so that was great news.
In closing, I want to say that in looking at the documentation and speaking to my staff, I was very proud of how this law has come about. In a world defined by division and negativity, it's important to take this opportunity to express gratitude for the collaboration in how we got here—specifically to Mat Sargent, senior director of the modern treaty and self-government policy directorate, and his team at the policy and partnerships branch at CIRNAC.
Thank you very much.