Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'd like to begin by thanking you for being here. It's clear that the experiences and the tragedy that you've described force you to relive difficult moments. It's impossible for us to understand the scale of the hardships and sorrow that you relive every time you appear before us.
Nevertheless, it's very important for us to give consideration to your experience in our deliberations. Thank you once again for being here.
I just want to begin by thanking you for sharing with us and putting the time in to be here with us on what I know can only be extremely difficult.
I have said this many times, and we've heard this. The intention of this law was not to take away indigenous peoples' rights to hunt, and it was not to adversely impact hunters and farmers. One thing that I think is very important for us to talk about at the outset is how we ensure that, in that conversation, we are not losing the memory of victims and that we are not moving forward in a way that does not address the need to ensure that there are no more massacres like at the mosque in Quebec City and École Polytechnique. We have to figure out how to achieve this together, and I'm so grateful that it's the approach we're all taking today.
Perhaps I could ask Heidi—Ms. Rathjen, you and I have spoken about this before—how we best think about the issue of the rights of indigenous peoples and make sure that whatever legislation comes forward continues to afford them their right to hunt and does not make this unnecessarily difficult for them.