My name is David Ladouceur. I wear many hats with the union, but today I'm going to talk to you as a first nations person. I'm Anishnabe. I'm from Shawanaga First Nation.
There was no consultation with any first nations people invited here. Once again, you're leaving out a major component of Canadian society, and this is not a fair deal for Canada if it's not a fair deal for first nations people. You have to take your heads out of your butts and realize where we're at in taking the resources from Mother Earth and not being concerned about the next seven generations, about my grandchildren, your grandchildren, and the children who follow.
The short-sighted deals have done nothing for the Atlantic coast and they have done nothing for Canada. It's time we started realizing that. It's terrible.
A lot of learned people have been up here speaking before me, and all I can do is speak from my heart. I watched my brother-in-law pass away from cancer last year, just in February, as a matter of fact, and the bills for medication were outrageous. I have a sister who is now battling a brain tumour. These are all issues that we're going to have to contend with, right? How are we going to pay for that? How are we going to cover that?
As a union member, I'm told to carry the line, but sometimes when that line is crossed, you have to speak from your heart. I'm asking everybody here to look at this deal and to look at it with your heart and see if we're going in the right direction. I don't think we are.
Does that white paper you're showing me mean that I have 30 seconds left?