Thank you very much,

Mr. Speaker.

Indeed, for me, it is a great honour for this House to direct our interest in telling Canada that yes, we as the political body of the Northwest Territories are representing the majority of the population of aboriginals and the majority of the population that suffered in the residential school system that indeed a public apology accompanying that should be on the forefront of the national agenda. I know that federally they are waiting for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to finish their report, but some time it’s coming. I believe this apology can start the healing a lot sooner than that. There’s talk of a federal election now that further delays cause inaction on this file.

Once again, the file is about destroying a once proud people through government-instituted policies and indeed, an apology should be forthcoming and not be relegated to a bureaucratic jungle. This should be something that, to me, strikes when the iron is hot. I believe the federal government can take this opportunity to tell all Canadians that yes, we erred as well. We did it to the Chinese and the Japanese, but we did it to our aboriginal people first and for the longest, too. I

don’t know why they’re waffling and waiting, but it’s something they’ve already recognized and they’re already doing, so I believe an apology should happen sooner than later.

Just to further reiterate the pain and suffering that happened, my honourable colleague from Mackenzie Delta speaks about being five years old. That’s a very small child to be taken away from families and put into institutions. That indeed is a sad chapter, as well as what that had created, especially if they are there for seven and, in some cases, twelve years in the system.

You’ve taken them away from home, family and cultural values, and you’ve created a whole cultural gap, as well as the age gap that happens because you’re away from home for so long. Your normal interactions with your grandparents, the elders in your community, all that is gone. Any knowledge lost from our elders about our way of life is a huge, huge loss. Today we look to the elders to learn from them because we missed out a big gap in our life.

With that, Mr. Speaker, once again I urge all my colleagues to vote in favour of this motion, and to Mr. Premier, to take our direction seriously and speak with the Prime Minister at the earliest opportunity and convey the desire of this House.

I would like to request we go to a recorded vote. Mahsi.