Mr. Speaker,
[Member spoke in Blackfoot and provided the following translation:]
Greetings. My name is Sacred Horse Rider.
[English]
Mr. Speaker, earlier this week, I had the honour of witnessing the opening of the Chief Crop Eared Wolf Peacemaking Centre of the Blood Tribe in Alberta. The Blood Tribe has invested tens of millions of dollars of its own sourced revenue to build its own judicial centre and system, which is true nation building. It is the first of its kind in Canada.
Throughout its history, the Blood Tribe has always sought to uphold self-determination and be good treaty partners alongside the Crown and government. However, it has been more than a year since the Supreme Court confirmed that the Blood Tribe was shorted over 162 square miles of land promised under the Blackfoot treaty, Treaty No. 7, and the Liberal government still refuses to make things right. The Blood Tribe patiently waited in good faith for 50 years, and even proactively sent a settlement proposal to CIRNAC, yet the Liberals hide behind silence and delay, and cannot progress on an agreement that both sides already accepted in principle.
Conservatives know that treaty rights are confirmed under section 35 of the Constitution. The Crown gave its word. It is time for the Liberal government to keep it.