Madam Speaker, I will be supporting the motion today.
I think there is a lot more tragic news that we are likely to discover as we continue to investigate. I would like to quote Duncan Campbell Scott, the 1909 appointed superintendent of Indian education, who said in 1910:
I can safely say that barely half of the children in our Indian schools survive to take advantage of the education we are offering them.
Duck Lake Indian Agent MacArthur later added:
The children “catch the disease … in a building … burdened with Tuberculosis Bacilli”.
Unfortunately, I think we are going to find more tragic situations in the coming days and weeks. We need to get to the bottom of this and do what we can to help in the healing process.