I will try to answer all your questions. I took notes as you were speaking. There are certain realities when it comes to the communities. You talked about education and certification. We need our own structures. It has to start from the grassroots, from our own economic development. The fact is that the communities are emptying out. We are losing our resources and all of that. And it is that way because we are talking about a dream. We all have dreams. Our dream is to work in our community. That was and remains our dream: to work for our own people, for our own community, within structures that we have built on our own. Economic development means taking an active role. That is what our communities want and that is what the men want.
Often we are unable to meet basic needs. You talked about self-esteem, which is a basic need. Having a roof over our head, food, clothing and a job are basic needs. After that there can be self-esteem. Housing is overcrowded, with eight to ten people living together in cramped conditions. So, there is a whole mixture of problems.
I talked about the dream, but I also talked about our profound discontentment. And I would like to talk to you about that. I worked with people in my community. But what kind of dream or inspiration can you give someone who comes to you for help? You have to try to help them to empower themselves. You have to work with them on a personal level, but you also have to have levers so that the dreams and goals an individual sets for himself are realistic.
Yes, education is important, but it must reflect our own way of doing things and our own needs, particularly in terms of economic development. That is why we want our own institutions and to be in charge of our own economic development. We don't have any economic levers. Unfortunately, the Indian Act just aims to assimilate us.