From the way Canada has treated indigenous peoples, it is obvious that we are oppressed. It is obvious that our people are beginning to have a lack of hope because Canada is not living up to the responsibilities under our treaties and not recognizing our treaty and inherent human rights, per se. We've been saddled with legislation that totally interfered in our lives when it was not supposed to, and that was not intended at the treaty-making. We needed to look at....
We've been fighting. As I said earlier, ever since the treaty-making, our peoples have been fighting to try to protect the treaty and inherent rights. We've been saying it to deaf ears—telling people, telling the various governments and the various parties that form the Government of Canada, yet we are still in the same situation. Yes, our peoples begin to lose hope.
As you know, the way Canada has treated indigenous peoples through the residential school era, the sixties scoop, and infested blankets, they wanted to get rid of us. They wanted to get rid of our peoples. We weren't even allowed to assemble. We weren't even allowed to leave the reserves without a permit, in previous years. We are beginning to wonder, are we going back to that stage? Is Canada bringing us back to that, even after they have made political promises? They have gone to the UN; they are signatory to the international covenant on human rights, yet they come back and treat us as if we are not human and we don't have treaty and aboriginal rights.
Yes, there is lack of hope amongst our peoples. It's up to Canada to sit down with the treaty indigenous chiefs and address these issues for a resolution. Our treaties were peace treaties, and we need to move forward and live in harmony with each other, side by side, without interference, and recognize each other's rights.