Mr. Speaker, like the hon. member, I share her thoughts and prayers for the victims of the tragedy in Nanaimo today. I know that is in her area. Certainly our thoughts are with everyone involved in that situation.
I am disappointed that the hon. member and her party are choosing to oppose this legislation.
I noticed throughout her speech she quoted from a lot of individuals, but avoided certainly quoting a fellow British Columbian, the National Chief Shawn Atleo, who has said quite clearly that the first nations control of first nations education act is necessary for first nations students living on reserve, that it is an improvement and that it meets the five conditions that the AFN and the Chiefs-in-Assembly have laid out. Therefore, I wonder why she is avoiding talking about the AFN and its strong support for this direction.
However, I would like to know why she is opposed specifically. The legislation is very clear that it provides first nations with the power to choose their own government options, develop their own curriculum, choose how they will incorporate language and culture into their curriculum, choose their own education inspectors, control the hiring and firing of teachers, determine how their students will be assessed, determine how the school calendar will be structured, et cetera.
That is control of the education system. It is given to first nations for them to finally have control over their education system. I wonder why the NDP opposes that when the AFN and many first nations have been calling for it for decades.