Mr. Speaker, happy Valentine's Day.
It is also Have a Heart Day, and as I speak there are children standing on the steps of the Parliament Buildings calling on the government to protect the rights of first nations children. Can we imagine that? Children have to come to Parliament to call on the government to protect children.
It has been two years since the House unanimously passed Shannen's Dream motion in honour of the late Shannen Koostachin, promising to close the funding gap for children in schools on reserves, yet children are still waiting.
It has been nine years since Jordan River Anderson died in a hospital far from home while the federal government and the provincial government bickered about who was going to pay for his home care.
Despite the promises, our first nations children are still falling through the cracks while the government bickers and denies its legal obligation to children.
Young people get it. They are calling on the government to have a heart and live up to its obligations, protecting first nation children.