Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to share some words from Dr. Julia Christensen that hit me like a ton of bricks on the weekend. Dr. Christensen is someone I grew up with. We sang in the Yellowknife youth choir for many years. She is best known these days for her work in critical research of northern governance, especially as she is surrounding home and homelessness in Canada's North. These are her words that I share today with her consent.
Quote, I can be concerned about the current threats to Canadian sovereignty and also see it as an opportunity for Canadians to reflect on the longstanding violence of refusal of Indigenous sovereignties by settlers colonial Canada. Canadian sovereignty has been built upon the disposition of Indigenous lands and the denial of Indigenous self-determination and sovereignty. We are at a critical point wherein our collective resistance to threats from the south of the border. We need to simultaneously reckon with how Canadian assumptions of sovereignty have been built upon *tare and millus and the exclusion of Indigenous legal orders. We are standing in a place of incredible opportunity for solidarity building, land back, and decolonization if we are willing to take IT and do the work. End quote.
I urge this House to do this critical work together with Indigenous governments. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Great Slave. Members' statements. Member from the Sahtu.
