Mr. Speaker, as I stand in this place I think of the Lyackson, the Halalt, Penelakut, the Malahat, the Pacheedaht, Ditidaht and of course the Cowichan tribes and what a great honour it is for me to stand in this place and be their voice. I represent many communities on Vancouver Island. They are a bit further south than my colleague's communities, but they are going through the same kind of pain. It is well past time for us to address this issue.
I find that the memory of members of this place can be short sometimes and I am glad that my colleague raised the issue of Jordan's principle in the course of her speech. It was in 2007 that my former boss, Jean Crowder, who represented the riding of Nanaimo—Cowichan at the time, brought forward Motion No. 296, which was passed unanimously by the House. That motion confirmed Jordan's principle.
The point I am trying to get across is that the House of Commons has already had opportunities in the past to voice its opinion on the issue. It is not as though these are new issues. I share my colleague's concerns that we are stuck in this place where we want to see the bill move forward, but we do have concerns that it may be rushed. Just looking at the timeline of the Liberal government reminds me that it is too bad that with three weeks left, we are just getting to this stage now.
I am wondering If my hon. colleague from North Island—Powell River could talk about how the House in the past has had lots of opportunities to address these issues, and not just in this Parliament. It is a shame that with children being our most precious resources and with all the power that we command in this place, again we seem to be asking first nations communities to wait a bit longer for what is certainly very overdue and long-deserved attention to the issues that matter most to them.