Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Winnipeg North for his question.
We need to get to the bottom of this issue. It has been going on for far too long.
I will respond to his question, but I want to first say that since we have the opportunity to debate this issue, it is important to remember how long it is has been going on. I could give many examples that go back a long way. For example, there was an incident in the early 1970s, in the James Bay territory, in northern Quebec.
Hydroelectric development in northern Quebec brought with it violence against aboriginal women. The country's first victims of violence against aboriginal women, in the early 1970s, were two young Cree girls who were found dead at the side of the James Bay highway. They had been raped.
We need to go outside this place and listen to the people. Is the tool being proposed here the best, most comprehensive one? I do not know. It needs to be examined in detail. One thing is certain: we support the request for an independent judicial inquiry. That is what was proposed earlier, and that is what the families are asking for.