Thank you for that once again.
I left the room for a moment, and as I came back in, I heard one of the MPs criticizing me for saying that the Indian Act brought both positives and negatives. If that Liberal MP represented first nations at the length I have, he would know something. Despite the imperfections of the Indian Act—and it was done in 1876 by Alexander MacKenzie, a Liberal prime minister—he would know damn well that first nations are scared to have that opened up, because they're scared of government always taking something from them.
It's not perfect, and don't criticize me if you don't know the file. You're better off shutting your mouth if you don't know anything about it.
Here's what I would say to you, Mr. Weiler—and listen closely. You're the government. If you want to get rid of the Indian Act, you open up and get rid of it. Let's see you do that. You have the power. You're the governing party. Let's see you finally change the name.
Look at the name of it even: “Indian Act”. It's 2024, and we still have that name, and you're over there criticizing? Talk to some first nations people and you'll realize there's a great fear in terms of what actually happens when that gets opened up in this country.
How much time do I have, Chair?