Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the other members of the House and as a Canadian, I would like to thank the hon. member for Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River for the leadership that he has taken on this initiative.
As the aboriginal affairs critic for our party, I speak in support of the motion. I have been around these sorts of issues for many years. I served as a commissioner of the Indian Claims Commission of Canada for 10 years, and for 8 or 9 of those years as a co-chair. I must say how proud I am of the hon. member, as I have watched him do his work as a member of the House and watched his attempt to advance claims for fairness and justice for aboriginal people. He has been a great advocate at committee and has been a great advocate in the House. We all owe him a debt of gratitude for the fine work that he has been doing on behalf of aboriginal Canadians and the people of his constituency, and I thank him.
The motion is one that involves acknowledgement, recognition and dignity to a group of men and women who have served this country with distinction and who when they returned from military service found that they were not treated in the same way. In particular, I was struck by the testimony which I read of members of the military, veterans who said that while they were in service as aboriginal Canadians, it was the first time in their lives that they were treated in a way that measured up in terms of respect and equality. They were treated wonderfully as members of the Canadian service. The problems began when they returned to Canada and found themselves again under the thumb of the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs.
The stories that we heard at committee with respect to the treatment of those people would not make any Canadian proud.
The question I have for the hon. member concerns how this matter came before the House. It was before the committee at an earlier time. What has brought this motion before the House? Why is it here? Could he explain that to Canadians?