Quotes

(on the residential school system) Overall, I think it helped rob our people of a sense of self-confidence, and being confident in out own identities. But it feels like we 're turning the corner to recognizing that none of us set up those systems. My late grandmother remarked when we were at the apology (in the House of Commons) 'Grandson, they're just beginning to see us'. That's a profound statement for a lot of reasons. She raised seventeen kids, all of whom went to residential schools. I was the first generation not to in our community. She said, 'What I realized is that I couldn't turn this heavy page in a dark chapter of our history. It's going to take every single one of us . First Nations and Canadians.

Canada, being a young country, is a work in progress, in fact, a successor state, and has a responsibility to uphold treaties that were made with First Nations before Canada was even formed. We can't work in isolation. The status quo has to be significantly changed, and these young people in the communities where I go need to see, taste and feel results sooner than later.

I hope we're in the kind of tipping point movement that other movements have experienced, whether it's civil rights, women's rights, the environmental issues.