Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member and all hon. members for the debate tonight. Certainly, when I listen to this debate it is very easy to become overwhelmed by the challenges faced by our aboriginal youth, especially as symbolized by the crisis that we are facing in Attawapiskat.
However, my head, my heart, and my faith also convince me that the first nations indigenous communities and their youth, as challenging as the problems are, also have the resilience and the strength to deal with these problems if only we were to offer some form of co-operation with them.
Let me tell a story from my own riding of Hull—Aylmer, which is a place where a lot of first nations communities come. Parents come to study to improve themselves, to go to CEGEP or to go across the river to a college or a university, and oftentimes they bring their children. The children face a difficult transition of moving from school to school. Yet, let me mention one school in my riding, Pierre Elliott Trudeau Elementary School, where the kids got together and under the guidance of a first nations music producer, David Hodges, produced a fabulous video in which the elementary students themselves told their story. They wrote the song. They wrote the music. They produced the video. It really was a positive demonstration of what can happen when they come together. It was the first time that a lot of those students felt that they were paid attention to and they had that opportunity to express themselves.
There are many ways in which people in a community can take action themselves. I wonder if the hon. member would have a comment on that.