Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, will support this motion as the seconder of the motion. I think it is long overdue that we get the federal government, along with the Government of the Northwest Territories, to move on the commitment of setting up the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. More importantly for them to take the stories of the survivors of the residential school, especially the elders who have seen how it has affected them and, more importantly, their children and grandchildren.
I think in the Northwest Territories it’s a way of dealing with a bad blend of our history. Most people don’t really understand, but it still has a very important impact on the North’s history and the lives of First Nations people in the North and how the children were dealt with in residential school. I think it’s important that we as a government do everything we can to get the federal government to establish some commission in the Northwest Territories.
As we heard, there’s going to be one hearing in the Northwest Territories. I personally do not believe that is adequate. There are a lot of elders passing on every day in the North and, sure, they may have gotten a payout but, if anything, it just brought back
the pain and suffering they had to deal with when they went through residential school.
I think it’s also important that we don’t lose sight of what has happened and hear the stories of the survivors so they can say what they’ve gone through, but, more importantly, that we never repeat this again in Canadian history.
With that, I look forward to the comments of the other Members. I will be supporting this motion.