Thank you for the question.
I'm happy to share my time with Dr. Jaffe as well, who I think could speak to this in very real ways.
The challenges of reconciliation are material. They're substantial. They are much more than symbolic, as I think the lived practice of transportation shows us in real and tangible ways. Many of the things that would make a measurable impact on the outcomes that are critical to a different relationship between non-indigenous communities and indigenous communities can be seen in something like transportation policy. It would work to provide connections between indigenous communities and other communities, but also tie indigenous communities to each other.
Some of these issues get us to think beyond our urban-rural dichotomy. We are often talking about communities, such as Winnipeg and Brandon, that meet any definition of an urban community. These issues of connectivity—the inability of a private market, the lack of interest from provincial governments in providing transportation—particularly affect certain communities. Indigenous communities, and especially indigenous women, are certainly among those affected.
This is a very concrete way that the federal government can respond to the calls to justice from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, and in less direct but also important ways respond to the calls to action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.