People are anxious to bring this terrible chapter to a close. |
That is a national tragedy and an international embarrassment. |
The challenge is not to debate whether the right exists or not but how to get full effect of the right, |
The commitments that are made are significant and it's going to be very, very difficult for any government to retreat from those commitments here, |
The government is not in the habit of handing out money. |
The residential schools were designed to eradicate any sense of Indian-ness. They denied us the opportunity to learn about ourselves. |
There are at least 100 First Nations communities that are in a boil-water situation. There are at least 40 of those in Ontario. |
This is an incredible opportunity for us, and we can't let it slip by. |
This situation is entirely unacceptable, |
Trust us. We will transform our community. |
Unfortunately, many First Nations communities still lack the basic infrastructure to connect to the Internet, |
We believe in the importance of public education, public information as a vehicle for change. Speaking to a class of 30 may seem to be of little consequence compared to the issues we're dealing with, but it has a sphere of influence beyond that. |
We can't be treated as secondary. We can't be an after-thought, |
We don't take issue with anything the minister has expressed here today. |
We have conquered our own cynicism, |