Thank you very much for the question.
The composition of non-indigenous people is very key to reconciliation. I talked a lot about these institutions of assimilation and genocide, and people continually say, “Well, genocide happened to you.” The thing is, somebody was doing the genocide, so it's a two-way street. It's a relationship. The negative part of that relationship is non-indigenous governments and non-indigenous people. To heal that relationship and move forward, we need non-indigenous people to be walking that road to reconciliation with us. It's important, as the first nation part of the national council, that we are also vetting and being a part of the selection of the non-indigenous people.
We've seen many cases of people not having done proper background checks on certain appointees, and you end up with people who are extraordinarily racist, for example. I think the work of the council is to address that kind of systemic racism, and the overt and covert racism that exist within Canada. Certainly, having somebody who is an outright white supremacist, for example, is not something you would want on this council, so we have to have a say as well in the selection of that person. I think, together with the government and as a group with ITK and the Métis, we want to have the best Canadians on this particular council.
Meegwetch.