Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today is the second National Day of Action in Support of First Nations. I would like to acknowledge the Government of Canada for recently forming the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. This commission is part of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement and will allow people who have experienced harm at residential schools to share their stories in a safe and culturally sensitive environment.
This commission will not decide on guilt or innocence but will fill in a sad history to help people to heal and encourage reconciliation between aboriginal and non-aboriginal people of Canada. With a budget of $60 million, the commission will start this June 1 — that’s in a few days — and will complete its work in five years.
Mr. Phil Fontaine, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, views the Truth and Reconciliation Commission as a turning point in the relationship between aboriginal people in Canada. He said it will set the historical record straight and “give our people an opportunity to speak to Canadians in a way they have never been able to do before. There will be no…secrets.”
Commission Chair Mr. Justice Harry LaForme says it will help to discover why the current relationship between aboriginal people and the rest of Canada is as fractured and misunderstood as it is. To quote Justice LaForme, “Once we are able to define this faulty relationship, we may be able to provide a road map for a more healthy relationship into the future.”
Two women of aboriginal descent join Justice LaForme on the commission: Jane Brewin Morley, a lawyer, mediator and public policy advisor, and Claudette Dumont-Smith, a registered nurse active in aboriginal health issues.
There will be a special place for elders in the development of their important work. Northerners have been consulted, and the travel schedule for the TRC will be established next month.
I’m sure all Members join me in acknowledging the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and its important task to help all Canadians reconcile our past and live together more honourably in the future.
As an addendum, Mr. Speaker, in my own riding of Weledeh there is a shameful display of the lack of understanding among people. The paving of the roads on Latham Island stops dramatically at the entrance to N’dilo. After years of unsuccessful requests for paving to extend into N’dilo, today the Yellowknives First Nation is stopping vehicles, handing out information about their road and requesting donations. I have made a personal donation to this cause.
The paving of the N’dilo road requires….