Mr. Speaker, we are witnessing the turning of a page in the story that is Canada, one which Queen Elizabeth II is not only witness to, but also co-author of.
Death is one of those journeys we must all take. Where I am from, elders speak of returning to the stars, where we will bring what we have learned here to that next place. It is a journey of honour, remembrance and return, one on which I wish Her Majesty well.
Queen Elizabeth II was a mother, a grandmother and a great-grandmother. Like the wise and respected elders I know, the Queen connects all of us more deeply to one another, but also to ourselves. Role models of service, devotion and tradition, their lives precious for their words give us pieces of ourselves. It is truly a most human experience in kinship and love. I wish her family well as they honour her and mourn her passage.
However, she was more than a mother. She was a monarch. In the words of Grand Chief RoseAnne Archibald, “let's remember that grief and accountability can exist in the same space, simultaneously.”
All of us here and our entire country are in a moment of reflection. As the second Elizabethan age closes, we have an opportunity of renewal.
As we look back from where we have come, it is my hope that as we turn back forward, we harness the wisdom, sacrifice and teachings of that past and seek an even greater tomorrow.
Queen Elizabeth II contributed to our shared path, much like former monarchs did. Notably, on March 29, 1982, she granted royal assent to the Canada Act, 115 years to the day when her great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, gave royal assent to the British North America Act, 1867, a difficult and tumultuous time for indigenous people.
In comparison, the new act would achieve full independence for Canada by allowing us to change our Constitution without approval from Britain. It enshrined the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in Canada's Constitution. Finally, following decades of indigenous activism and organizing by indigenous leaders, they would push the Crown government to finally recognize existing aboriginal and treaty rights for Métis, first nations and Inuit people, codified in section 35 of the new Constitution Act.
However, her reign was by no means a perfect one. Mistakes that live on through the Crown are a weight that His Majesty King Charles III must now bear. However, it is also an opportunity for King Charles to write the next chapter in Canada's story, one that I hope addresses the silence of the monarchy in the face of growing demands from around the globe for formal acknowledgement of the past injustices and the payment of reparations to descendants of enslaved people.
Additionally, here on Turtle Island, one need only look at the unimaginable legacy of Canada's horrific residential schools created by Crown governments in her name, to see the impact of colonization here. To date, nearly 2,000 unmarked graves of children have been located. Estimates put the total number of graves at nearly 6,000.
It was from those early kingdoms who came to Turtle Island seeking the blessings of these lands to the great resistance wars of my forebears, Métis and first nations, on the Great Plains and, finally, to the commitments made in great ceremony between our nations on this land before our creator. Where I am from, it is known as Treaty No. 6. Indigenous people here have a unique and special relationship with the British Crown. It is this special relationship that is manifest in events throughout our time.
Early on, a relationship that was founded by peace and trade would become one of introduction of disease, wars and land dispossession, followed quickly by Canada's armed expansion into the west, matched by Métis and first nations resistance on the Great Plains, stories remembered still today. It is a relationship that has seen horrific results of forced Inuit relocations, the residential schools and the sixties scoop.
It is also a relationship of unity, forged while fighting side by side in the Great War and World War II. It is a relationship that is still growing and one that, I hope, can bring us even closer to unity, while maintaining our truly nation-to-nation relationship.
While the federal government is directly or jointly accountable for 76 of the 94 Truth and Reconciliation Commission's calls to action, the Crown must play an active role in the truth-telling of these lands.
On behalf of indigenous survivors, their nations, including my own, I call on the King to ensure he works closely with his Crown government in Canada to realize the TRC call to action number 45, which calls on the Government of Canada, on behalf of all Canadians, to jointly develop, with indigenous people, a royal proclamation of reconciliation to be issued by the Crown, to build on our historic relationship, to renew our nation-to-nation relationship and to ensure indigenous sovereignty.
In addition, the Crown must renounce colonial concepts used to dispossess my people, indigenous people across Turtle Island, of their children, their land and, in many instances, their dignity, such concepts as the doctrine of discovery and terra nullius.
This is not the work of the impossible. During his most recent trip to Canada earlier this year, the then Prince of Wales acknowledged in a speech in Yellowknife that, “It has been deeply moving to have met survivors of residential schools who, with such courage, have shared their experiences. On behalf of my wife and myself, I want to acknowledge their suffering and to say how much our hearts go out to them and their families.”
As King, he has the opportunity to go further. It is my sincerest hope that in his first official visit to Canada as King, His Majesty Charles III will meet with indigenous elders and leaders across this country and listen to their requests. History will judge his reign based on his response.
The Crown's history here is short. In the magnitude of the time these lands have witnessed, it is a mere tree in a forest, but like lightning the Crown's presence here has changed this land forever. When a lightning strike hits the perfect tree, it has the power to destroy an entire forest, but like the fires that destroyed the forests of old, there is renewal and rebirth. The generations of today, like the seedlings of a great new forest, are growing, and we are a generation that can achieve this.
Let us walk the next chapter not so divided but together, so that this forest may truly feed all of us.
Kinanaskomtinawaw.