I recognize how that was a very in-depth and extended report that took the Senate the better part of a year to conduct. Our memories are often short. I became an adult in the early 2000s. I became an adult after 2001.
In 2001, I was in university.
This impacted me a lot, from my public engagement and throughout my adulthood until today. I look back at that period and I recognize how that impacted my trajectory, but I didn't realize it at the time. I remember some of the conversations we were having in the decade immediately after 2001, and I remember that you mentioned what's happening in some provinces in the country. That is an important conversation.
I also remember that at the federal level, when the last government, the Conservative government, was running an election, there was gross maligning of Muslims and there were caricatures being put forth. Every other day you would see a niqab-wearing person on the cover of a paper or in some cases being referred to in almost every stump speech by the Conservative Party in the election campaign.
I recognize that people change and grow. I want you to comment, Mr. Brown, on the importance of elected officials' being very mindful of how they talk about minorities. I recognize how, when in 2015 our government came in, we were very careful to make sure we didn't malign communities just to score political points.
Please go ahead, Mr. Brown.