Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my friend from Skeena—Bulkley Valley for his very passionate speech today, and of course his long-term commitment to advancing indigenous rights.
I want to respond to a couple of his comments. First, he had a number of very important suggestions, which we hope will be debated and discussed in committee, including the addition of the sixties scoop and other incidents over the generations, such as forced displacement and so on. We look forward to having that discussion in committee and being able to accommodate as many suggestions as we can to improve the bill.
There is an organization in his community called First Peoples' Cultural Council in B.C. Since coming into office, I believe the funding has tripled from our government, from $1 million in 2016 to $6.2 billion or million, over two years in 2018-19. I believe that is still not enough, but it is the type of commitment the government has toward properly funding indigenous languages.
I know our ALI program has been very important. The $89 million over three years is all part of a broader commitment. It is essential that we get this legislation through in order for dollars to flow in the long term.
What kind of direct impact do you think this will have on communities in your constituency, and how can the practices there be expanded across the country?