Mr. Speaker, our hearts are heavy today as we mourn the tragedy that occurred on and around the James Smith Cree Nation on September 2. A tight-knit Cree community has lost beloved community members: elders, youth, brothers, sisters, mothers. Today I stand to remember and offer condolences to the 11 victims and their family members. We mourn as a country the victims from the Burns, Sanderson, Head and Petterson families.
As a first nations MP who lives on a first nations reserve, I can only imagine the grief, pain and overwhelming sense of loss that the community is going through. As a government, we will work with indigenous leadership to ensure adequate resources to help heal and to help keep indigenous communities safe in the future.
I know the strength and the resilience of first nations in Canada, but I want the community to know that they are not alone. We are thinking of them. We are praying for them, and we will do what is necessary to help them.