Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday we had a really significant event that happened here in the House with the TRC motion that was passed in the House and having some of our guests that came and spoke to the event.

I commend the courage and strength it takes for all of our survivors across the Northwest Territories to speak up and share their stories of what had happened in the past. As a result, some of the stories we have heard were how a lot of our survivors couldn’t speak their languages or practice their cultures growing up in school. As a result, languages were lost, cultures were lost, and today I can’t speak my language as the Member’s statement, but some of these other guys can, because there was a time where second and third generations have lost the languages. It is a reality into what has happened with the residential school system.

I commend my colleagues who speak their language, and I commend all the communities that can also speak their language and have strong cultures and continue to keep them flourishing, especially within the youth. It’s something that needs to be addressed. I commend the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment with some of the initiatives that he is trying to take on. I also commend all the elders and the teachers in the school right now who are trying to reintegrate the languages into our schools with our younger generation.

I would like to make a point and just say thank you to my parents who are now practising the languages and teaching those to my little nieces and nephew. I commend all the elders that are making an effort to do that with the third and fourth generations of our residential school, and look forward to seeing our languages in the future flourish again and be healthy in our communities in the Northwest Territories. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.