Mr. Speaker, on June 11, 2008, Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper apologized to indigenous people for Canada's past role in the residential school system.
Residential schools were a component of a system that created the issues that we are still trying to resolve today. I spent years reading Haisla archives on how first nations were treated and excluded conditionally from Canada's society and economy. I fully acknowledge our past. It is one of the biggest reasons I strive to build a better future for Canada overall. This is what I believe reconciliation should represent, and we are closer than ever before, with first nations charting their own destinies as individuals from all walks of life are presented with opportunities to build their own lives.
In short, reconciliation should mean bringing two groups back together. As the newly elected Conservative MP for Skeena—Bulkley Valley, I want to thank the Conservatives for starting this new path of reconciliation 17 years ago.