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Thank you, Terry, thank you Regional Chief for your leadership and for your words of introduction and wisdom. I am pleased to be joining you today on the traditional unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabe people, whom we recognize as the past, present, and future caretakers of this land.

Elders, youth, veterans, National Chief Archibald, members of the AFN Executive Committee and chiefs in assembly, thank you for the opportunity and the invitation to be here with you today.

But before I begin, I want to offer my condolences to the family and loved ones of Elder Dave Courchene, as well as his entire community of Sagkeeng First Nation. Here at home and around the world, Elder Courchene was admired for his work, his teachings, and his message of peace and hope. He was a remarkable leader, and he will be missed.

I am honoured to be participating with you in this assembly.

For many of you and your communities, I know that this has been a difficult year. The discovery of unmarked graves of children who died in the residential school system opened deep wounds. These discoveries deepened the pain felt by survivors, families, and everyone in Indigenous communities, and reaffirmed a truth that you have long known.

Over the past few years, including when I visited Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc in October, many people have shared their stories with me. I am listening. I am listening to what we as a government must do to support you, and I can tell you that Canadians are listening, too. In fact, not only are they listening, they’re calling for more action, faster. And that’s exactly what we are ready to deliver.

We know that continuing to move forward on the path of reconciliation cannot come without truth. That’s why we’re appointing a special interlocutor to further advance justice on residential schools while ensuring that communities undertaking burial searches have what they need. The children who never returned home must not be forgotten. As a country, we must all continue hearing the truth of what happened to them and to their communities.

I know that the trip to meet with the Pope at the Vatican has been postponed, but I want to take this opportunity to wish the First Nations’ delegation a successful visit when it’ll be safe to travel, which hopefully will be very soon.

To move forward, we must recognize our past. The residential school system is not the only terrible wrong in Canada’s history, so just like we did with the exoneration for Chief Poundmaker and for the Tsilhqot'in chiefs, we’ll continue to recognize that truth.

Continuing to move forward on the path of reconciliation will always be a priority for our government. We have made considerable progress since 2015, and we know there is still a lot of work to do. That is also the main theme of this year’s Special Chiefs Assembly, Building Our Future.

This is our moment to build a better future together. This is the moment to ask ourselves, how can we continue breaking down barriers? What can we do to accelerate our work? How can we build on the progress we’ve already made?

Part of that answer, I believe, is to continue collaborating as partners, nation-to-nation.

Above all, we will continue to be there for you and give you the help you need to fight COVID-19 and recover from its impacts. The new variant that has emerged in several countries around the world, including here in Canada, is a reminder that that the pandemic is not over.

The federal government is working to procure booster shots, shots for children, and next-generation COVID-19 vaccines, and we continue to work with provinces and territories, and with our First Nations partners, to ensure that everyone has access to vaccines.

The pandemic has highlighted, and sometimes worsened, health care inequalities, and we are determined to eliminate them. For example, we will make important investments in a distinction-based mental health and wellness strategy that meets the needs of all Indigenous peoples: First Nations, Inuit, and Métis.

Making sure everyone can get safe and equitable access to the care they need, free from racism or discrimination, will always be a priority for us. That’s why we’ll keep tackling systemic racism in our institutions, including by fully implementing Joyce’s Principle.

Keeping people healthy is essential to the well-being of communities, of course so is keeping people safe. On top of everything else people had to face this year, communities were hit by record heat waves, by wildfires, by floods. Regional Chief Teegee was talking about that, and I know it’s something that is concerning for all Canadians, but particularly impactful in British Columbia.

Well, to meet this challenge, we’re moving faster than ever to prevent and prepare for extreme weather events, including with the development of Canada’s first-ever National Adaptation Strategy, and we’ll make sure that this process includes Indigenous peoples’ participation and involvement. This is important work.

But I don’t have to tell anyone here today that responding to extreme weather is only one part of the equation; we also have to address climate change head on. First Nations know better than anybody that climate change is real. You have long been leaders in environmental stewardship, sustainable development, and management of natural resources.

We are determined to continue working in partnership with you in fighting climate change and biodiversity loss. Initiatives like the Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas Program are prime examples of the actions Canada needs to take to protect nature and move forward toward reconciliation.

When we talk about building a better future for our kids, it can sound abstract, I get that. But the progress we’ve made together is real. The results we’ve delivered have a real positive impact on real peoples’ lives. Just take clean drinking water, for example. We’ve lifted 120 long-term drinking water advisories, and the work will continue until all remaining advisories have been lifted.

But what does that actually mean? Well, in Shoal Lake 40, it means that people now have clean drinking water after 24 years of advisories. I remember one of the very first trips to an Indigenous community I made after getting elected in 2015 was to Shoal Lake 40. I got to meet with the community, with leaders, with kids. I got to stand at the beginning or at the end – depending on your perspective – of Freedom Road that was as-yet unbuilt.

And I made a commitment that we would keep working with you until we got there, until we finished that road, until we ended the boil water drinking advisories; and we did.

While after waiting decades, Chief Redsky said it was about time.

I agree, and I agree that it’s unacceptable that some communities are still waiting. So, I can assure you that everywhere there’s a long-term drinking water advisory left, there’s a project team and an action plan in place to resolve it.

Clean drinking water is essential not just for individuals, but for communities as well. In Shoal Lake 40, the lack of access to clean water over the years has prompted many people to move. Some of them are now thinking about returning and reconnecting with the place where they grew up. It’s a real change for families and their children. Nothing is more important than giving children the best possible start in life. Indigenous children deserve to grow up surrounded by their loved ones, in their communities and in their culture.

This summer, with Chief Delorme of the Cowessess First Nation, as well as the Government of Saskatchewan, we signed the first-ever coordination agreement under the Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families that we worked to codevelop together. But the work doesn’t stop in Cowessess. We know that reforming the system will require significant commitments and investments by the federal government, and we’re prepared to make them. We’re also prepared to provide fair and equitable compensation to those harmed by discrimination in that system.

Of course, making sure children have the best possible start in life also means making sure they can learn in good schools. Since 2016, we’ve invested in 196 school infrastructure projects for First Nations communities. One of these projects is a new K to 12 school for Moosomin First Nation, and the great news is that that construction is planned for this coming year, 2022.

This new school for Moosomin First Nation will feature a large gym, a cultural learning resource centre, a library, several labs, and a nurse’s office. Most importantly, it will help children reach their full potential. Whether it is building schools, eliminating infrastructure inequalities, investing in housing, or protecting and promoting First Nations languages and cultures, we want to work with you.

I’ve covered a lot of ground so far, from clean water to climate change, but we know that all that really is just the start, because in all of our work, the federal government is committed to going even faster and further. Faster on our work to address the national tragedy of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people; faster on implementing the Calls to Action and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples; on the resolution of outstanding land claims; on economic empowerment; faster on advancing self-determination, and further on the shared path of reconciliation.

As our Governor General Mary Simon has said : “There is hope in the every day. Reconciliation is not a single act, nor does it have an end date. It is a lifelong journey of healing, respect, and understanding.” And I am ready to keep walking that lifelong journey with all of you.

Meegwetch. Kinanâskomitin. Mahsi’ Cho. Gilakas’la.

Thank you, my friends.