It's just my nature that I have to correct things. I've given nothing and done nothing for indigenous communities. They've provided us with everything in this country. I just want to put that out there. As much as we could do, we could never do enough to reconcile for what's happened here.
On the actual question, in the months and weeks leading up to Mr. Nijjar's assassination, there was a lot of information that was just in the community. He was warned days before by law enforcement that his life was at risk. He was supposed to be meeting with intelligence a day after he was killed for more briefings, as well. He was continuously warned for a year. We got our warnings in July 2022. He was the only one among the five of us who was repeatedly receiving those warnings. He kept saying the same thing from every stage where he spoke. He said he had the right to speak, and that he would not go silent. If people didn't like what he was saying, that was a different thing.
That happened right up until the day of his assassination. On June 18, 2023, at approximately 12 p.m., just a few hours before he was gunned down, he actually stated from the stage that he may not survive, that people should move on with the struggle. He said, “Don't go quietly. You have a duty to your people to speak out.” That's what we remember about him. One of the reasons I'm in this room is because of him. Many of us are here because that is the catalyst that brought us all into this space, and with the revelations that came out of that.
I think the community felt a bit helpless. When we look back at that moment, and we look at him, did we do enough to protect him? Did we do enough as a community? We have to get out of that. For a year, he kept getting warnings, but no one did anything. That's where we come back to the failures. We have one side of it. India will continue to attack, but are we in Canada prepared to thwart those attacks? At the moment, I would have to say no.