Madam Chair, I am a relatively new MP, and one thing I have learned is that partisanship, language and some of the particulars that we like to talk about in the Ottawa bubble do not matter to the people on the ground. When I talk to indigenous leaders and indigenous people on the ground in my riding of Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River and in my community, they say they want us to work toward finding solutions to some of the challenges.
The events of this week are a bit of a watershed moment, because they have created an opportunity for us to really look inside ourselves and see what we believe about some of these things. Our individual responsibility to listen, to build relationships and to respect our neighbours and friends who are different from us has become way more important than the partisanship and the specific language around the issue.