[Member spoke in Inuktitut, interpreted as follows:]
Mr. Speaker, I wish to repeat that clean water is a problem in aboriginal communities. It has been very problematic all these years. We indigenous people can no longer be discounted or written off in hopes that we disappear. We are here now, in the House of Commons. We are now persons and no longer wards of the government. We are human beings like everyone else. We are no longer referred to as wards of the state. We are human beings.
Indigenous peoples have their own governing system, which helped them survive all these years. Listen to the knowledge they have about governance and customary law. It needs to be incorporated into solving today's issues as they affect indigenous communities. I know I have to keep repeating “clean water for all indigenous communities”. I have to repeat it. This is not the first time, and I will repeat it again. I will have another chance to speak again.
I thank you, Mr. Speaker, for allowing me to speak Inuktitut. Romeo Saganash helped pave the way for me and gave me the confidence. I want to follow in his footsteps. He was my role model. I will work as hard as him too.