Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to everyone for the technical help we've received.
I acknowledge, with respect, the people and lands of the Snuneymuxw First Nation, where I am at present, and the indigenous peoples across Canada and beyond.
I want to recognize, with deep gratitude, the many indigenous knowledge-keepers who have generously shared their knowledge and wisdom with me over the past 50-plus years.
I am an ethnobotanist and ethnoecologist, trained in western biological sciences, but also in anthropology and geography. I have worked in many indigenous communities and have come to appreciate the importance of language in communicating knowledge—