—when the change to the Indian Act came into effect.
There have been many obstacles over the years, which have been brought forward by first nations, as well as by the federal government. I do not agree with the federal government when it comes down to dollars and cents.
Allow us to have our ATR process. Allow us to have our land to build economic certainty for our nations. Allow us to have our membership grow, because we are Anishinabe. We are the first peoples of these lands.
We have land sitting at Scugog, right now, that we cannot do anything on, and invasive species are taking over. How is that okay? We buy back land at fair market value. If you buy it, then it changes to your name tomorrow. We have to wait 20 years.
We know how to look after our lands environmentally. We know how to do the assessments. We know how to revitalize our lands. Allow it back so we can do that work and make our communities prosper.
Meegwetch.