Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this morning, the Supreme Court of Canada released its long-awaited decision on Indigenous child welfare. As many in this Chamber know, the previous GNWT governments saw fit to challenge in court the rights of Indigenous governments to take care of their own children.
Mr. Speaker, despite being encouraged by lawyers in the region to withdraw their challenge, the previous government persisted, continuing that fight at the Supreme Court. Today, the GNWT lost that fight, and rightly so. Today, the Supreme Court of Canada affirmed the right of Indigenous governments to care for their own children.
Mr. Speaker, I campaigned on the importance of this decision and the need to ensure GNWT worked with Indigenous governments and not against them. With this direction of the Supreme Court today, I want to thank all those who worked so hard to make this possible, including lawyers in my own riding. I also want to commit to ensuring that we, as a responsible government, as a government committed to self-determination and the inherent rights of Indigenous peoples in this territory, do everything possible to enable and support Indigenous governments and Indigenous children as we move together towards meaningful reconciliation.
Mr. Speaker, this Court has spoken. The previous government has lost and a brighter for future for Indigenous children in Inuvik and the NWT and across all Canada is now something we must work towards. Thank you.