Mr. Speaker, I would applaud you for referring to my riding correctly as Halifax West. It is not St. John's East, as my hon. colleague has indicated. One of the problems in our society is that quite often we do not get things straight.
In response to the question, I would like to comment first upon my hon. colleague's remarks about the general society. Part of the problem is that many times we do not recognize that aboriginal people are a part of the general society.
By that very terminology we are excluding aboriginal people. We are isolating and doing the very thing that he is trying to purport he is not doing, which is segregating and separating.
Aboriginal people are a part of the general society. It is just that they have not been afforded within that context the opportunities that have been afforded to other people. One of those opportunities should be to allow people to have their own culture, heritage and form of education. There is nothing wrong with that.
There are many systems of education today which are quite different. There is no one common system for Canadian society. There are public schools and private schools. There distance education via computers. There is home schooling. Are people who teach their children at home less a part of the general Canadian society than someone who sends their children to the public system?
Why would someone who is pursuing education within the confines of the Mi'kmaq community be any different from someone who is pursuing a home education course?
We must be careful not to apply our standards to other people and feel that because their standards do not apply or conform with our standards that they are not a part of the general society.
In so far as my own schooling goes, I grew up in the north end of Halifax. The school I attended had people from various races and that in itself does not necessarily support the member's contention that I would have done any better or any worse.
What made me do well, and I emphasized this during my speech, was the support I received within the confines of my home environment, which can be accomplished by aboriginal people in the confines of their home environment within the context of self-education controlled by the Mi'kmaq community. The two do not conflict.
I fail to see the point the hon. member is getting at. I feel it is very important that this bill be supported and I stand on that.