Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I thank those who are here today.
My question is directed to the Métis National Council and specifically Elder Fleury.
I am a retired member of the RCMP. I am fascinated by the history, especially because of how our western history started with the North-West Mounted Police, specifically in Manitoba. There are some sad stories with regard to the Métis and the North-West Mounted Police.
To go beyond that and try to intertwine what we're speaking of here today, I wonder if you could speak to a couple of things. It seems to me the Métis have such a great story to tell because, in my opinion, they affected Confederation. The reason I say that is that the North-West Mounted Police were forged to ensure that all members at the time could speak both official languages. It wasn't because of what was occurring in eastern Canada. It was because of the recognition that they would need both languages in the west. As a result of that, when the North-West Mounted Police arrived in Dufferin, they recognized that they would need to be able to converse with the Métis. The Métis had their own language, Michif. They recognized they would be able to dialogue to some degree.
I think it is really important that we tell this story in both official languages, because that's really how it all started in western Canada. It's so important.
I wonder if you could expound on that. You talked about camps. I think it's a great idea. It seems to me we have a whole lead-up to this, and then we have a whole year in which the Métis can tell their story because it goes beyond 1867 until now. When I tell people that the Dominion of Canada purchased Rupert's Land for £300,000 pounds—you can't buy a house in Vancouver for £300,000. It's amazing. I'm just fascinated by it.