Wow.
I think the scope of what this council is able to do can't be limited. That's the first thing. It needs to go where the truth needs to be found.
I think that the economic reality of the international community being unhappy with how our global economy has conducted itself over the last years has created a movement called ESG—environmental standards and governance. I actually say it's “ESGI” because there's an “I” in every one of those. “I” is for indigenous.
In part, I think this body can help reinforce that through its annual reports to Parliament about how that's progressing. A lot happens in this country. A lot of conversations are taking place within the federal government on ways to achieve economic reconciliation. I think that requires systemic change and a recognition of the impacts of colonialism on the ability of first nations to have a meaningful place in the capital markets, as an example.
There are lots of ways in which this council could support that so that we can address the poverty in our communities, provide opportunities for our young people and have them come home once they're educated because we've got something for them to do at home. Those are critical things that we need to do.
We just can't continue to feed the symptoms of poverty with money. We've got to find a solutions. I believe that a solution is to provide a better opportunity to be self-governing and to develop our own solutions.
The First Nations Fiscal Management Act is the most successful piece of legislation dealing with Indians in the history of this country. There are 345 first nations across the country that have chosen to become involved. The first nations finance authorities provided, by the end of this year, at the request of first nations, $2 billion worth of funding through debt that they wanted in order to support economic development, create employment in their communities and create that well-being index.