Mr. Speaker, it would have been nice to see this bill proceed as there is a great deal of expectation among many groups to recognize the importance of the issue. Having said that, I was impressed with the member's sharing of those personal stories. I thank her for doing that.
The member was talking about the severity of the impact on children. In the province of Manitoba, there were in excess of 10,000 children in foster care. I do not know the actual number today, but what is quite striking is I believe over 90% are of indigenous background.
What it emphasizes to me is that there is so much more that we still need to do. We need governments and indigenous leaders to come together and do more collectively so that we can try to keep more harmony within the family unit.
I wonder if the member might be able to add some thoughts from her perspective in terms of what Ottawa could be doing, working with others, to try to deal with this very serious issue.