Aanii. Boozhoo. Nindizhinikaaz Greg Rickford.

It’s a great morning for us here in this place, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the member from Kiiwetinoong for his enduring friendship over the past five years, and the House leader for taking the steps that, in my view, are long overdue.

Of course, French and English are described as the founding languages of this country, but anybody who lives in the vast and beautiful territory of northern Ontario, and especially northwestern Ontario—I’m joined by my neighbour, who lives 550 kilometres away. Like the member from Kiiwetinoong, the three ridings that we represent would easily be almost half the province in size. And there are districts beyond where, it goes without saying, that one of the most, if not the most predominant language spoken, is Ojibway, or a dialect thereof.

Mr. Speaker, I’ve had the extraordinary opportunity over the course of my adult professional life to live and work in northern Ontario, in northern Manitoba, in northern British Columbia, the territories and the Arctic Circle. I’ve marvelled at the rich heritage of the languages that are spoken there. They are first languages; English, of course, is second.

It has just been an extraordinary opportunity to, under the leadership of this Premier, take the important steps for reconciliation. We see parts of the Legislature adorned with things that symbolize the importance of First Nations people to our province and, indeed, to our country. There are rooms that give testament to the history—some of it good and some of it we wished had never happened, but it did. The steps of reconciliation compel us each and every day to take one more step forward in the relationship with First Nations people in this province.

There are over 400,000 Indigenous people living within the province of Ontario, and it represents roughly 3% of the population, all of whom have their own history, their unique cultural traditions, spiritual beliefs, languages and governance systems that continue to shape our province each and every day. Under the leadership of Premier Ford, we’ve created an extraordinary opportunity to meet regularly with First Nations leadership from across this province in the executive chamber, speaking with them nation to nation. Sometimes the conversations can be difficult. There is not always consensus or agreement.

What has evolved over the course of time, and I’ve really not seen it any other place, is the kind of respect that provides for clear representation, particularly Indigenous representation, in the Legislative Assembly writ large, but now, for the purposes of today, here in this Legislative Assembly.

The idea that the member for Kiiwetinoong could have family and friends and constituents who have come from afar—indeed, in my own riding of Kenora–Rainy River, Treaty 3 and parts beyond—to have them take their place in the gallery or here on the legislative floor and, with pride and honour, be able to speak their language. I hope one day that we have the opportunity to take our best shot at answering some of those questions, for those of us who neither speak it as a first or second language.

But this is an important step today. In sharing and discussing with the House leader today, who spent seven years with me in the other place, the House of Commons, we similarly watched as some—at least one or two I can think of—First Nations people came from afar—northern Quebec comes to mind—and did not and could not, as a matter of rule, speak their language to put a question or to take an answer.

Today represents that opportunity for us to embrace and celebrate a founding language of this country. I believe that in my heart, as I spent more than a decade living and working in predominantly Ojibway communities, much of it here in northern Ontario. It’s not an easy language to understand, but it is beautiful. It’s full of joy; it’s full of laughter. It deals with pain, but it’s spoken freely, and it’s a wonderful thing to be around.

Of course, I have some vocabulary in Ojibway—some of the bad words and many of the good words. As a nurse, I learned to understand when people were having certain kinds of aches or pains, and gauge the degree of seriousness. But what never left me was the joy and the comfort that was derived as I would sit with elders and they would speak in their first language, their traditional language, and laugh and share the stories of time immemorial here in North America.

We’ve taken important steps towards reconciliation. The province of Ontario has led the country in no uncertain terms when it comes to things like responding to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s report, particularly when it comes to Indian residential schools. It isn’t just about the financial resources; in fact, it’s the support we’ve provided for programs and services that, every step of the way, endeavour to ensure that the darkest chapter in the history of this country, and, in so saying, in this province—that the Indian residential school legacy must be led by Indigenous people, First Nations people, in this province, with the support of their government, as they work through the painful process of reconciling that experience in their own culture and history.

Today’s message is that we are here for them, and that, beyond the symbolism, there is an effort each and every day by this government to ensure that First Nations people, who may take their place one day in greater numbers in this Legislature, have the opportunity to speak their language. Much of what we do in the Ministry of Indigenous Affairs, in fact, advances that meaningful reconciliation.

I’ve spoken a little bit about the painful legacy of Indian residential schools, but as we try each and every day to pivot to some of the more opportunity-based policies, I marvel at some of the First Nations people who work in our ministry, who are showing leadership in other ministries. It’s extraordinary to see and know that there are at least two First Nations people who lead ministries as deputy ministers in our government. I’m proud to call them friends. I’ve known them for a very long time. I appreciate the opportunity to celebrate their knowledge and their understanding as we make decisions to move forward respectfully in a true partnership with First Nations people, and now to have their voices and their languages, as it would be, across northern Ontario and, in fact, all along the Haldimand tract in southern Ontario, from Windsor to Hawkesbury.

It makes it so important to discuss this morning the fact that people will be able to rise in their first spoken Indigenous language. Because if you’ve ever tried to speak in your second language—and I’ve heard you make great efforts, Mr. Speaker, to work through French interventions—we spend a lot of time translating. I remember my friend in the House of Commons talking about this. They refer to themselves as interpreters because they like to spend and make great efforts to try to interpret the spirit and the intent of a language, but if you were born with it and if it was the first thing that you heard coming from your parents or your extended family, in your school, well, it just comes naturally to it.

I had the opportunity in my late twenties to take up French. I’d never studied it in grade school, but I found myself at a point in time in my career where I just needed a little break and thought I would do something fun, like move to Quebec City and learn how to speak French. You can read it from a book and you can take it from a teacher, but the best way to learn a language is to be able to be exposed to it, to hear it and to understand its important ties to its culture and heritage from where it has come.

I have no doubt that we will find interpreters to work in the booth in back of me here and provide an extraordinary opportunity for us to hear the beauty of the spoken languages of First Nations people from across this province. And with the hope that some day we may have a broader representation in this Legislature of First Nations people, we’ve got to start somewhere. I believe that, under the leadership of Premier Ford, our House leader here today and my colleagues in the government, this was an obvious and important step that we could and should take.

Mr. Speaker, we can talk about policies that we can support and introduce into our school system. As I’ve always said, for many of us, there is a clear lack of understanding of the importance of the history of First Nations people in the province of Ontario and its culture. I believe now, particularly over the past decade, we are beginning to see more and more of that celebration.

When I decide to go to Mississauga for as compelling an Indigenous First Nations celebration as could be there—as I might see them far more regularly in my own riding—I know that we are elevating the prominence, the importance of First Nations culture, heritage and language. I often see some of my friends, who I consider family, from the communities that I lived and worked in in northern Ontario down here doing their important work. In my own family, we have important ties to Six Nations of the Grand River. So perhaps, as I take my place and speak to this today, it’s maybe a bit easier for me to understand and appreciate the importance of what we’re doing here today.

This is no ordinary change in the standing orders. As we look and canvass across Legislatures in this country, the House of Commons, provinces and territories—of course, the territories, with a different format and forum for their Legislature, have adapted to the languages spoken in their places. But as Legislatures go, I appreciate that the House leader took a good hard look at the opportunity we could do to once again lead, to simplify the process, to not have to ask permission to speak your language, but just to simply give notice. In my mind, that a member of a First Nations community from this province would have the ability to speak their language and hopefully, in the presence of their family, in the presence of their friends, in the presence of their constituents, who have been here as long as anybody in the jurisdiction or boundary of Ontario, it would feel and celebrate the same thing that I think many of us take for granted when we rise from our chair and make our intervention, when we send out our message during question period or when we engage in lively and spirited debate; that at least one member of this Legislature—and as I have said before, hopefully more, can come in here, take their seat and rise with the knowledge that there’s no more asking for permission to speak your language. There are no more barriers here in this place for you to celebrate the long-standing history and culture that is, in fact, attached to languages.

I encourage all members of this Legislature, for those of you, and there should be many, who have First Nations communities in your ridings, to go back and tell those folks and celebrate. Encourage young people, as some of us do, to come in here as pages or to engage them in their political activity. Let them know that if they aspire to come to this place—sometimes we ask ourselves why we might do that, but in telling them and explaining to them, we would be able to say, “Oh, and by the way, it’s going to be extraordinary to think that you would be able to go to the Legislature, take your seat and rise and speak in your language.”

I’ll close with these final remarks, as this debate is uncommon—I don’t think that there are many times that we debate the kind of standing order that should and would bring the kind of unanimity amongst colleagues: that we have refreshed this place, that we are now enlightened that the languages spoken in this place, on this floor, are not vertical. They simply reflect the fact that, whether it’s French or English or a First Nations language, it can be spoken fluently here.

For that, I’m tremendously grateful for the urgings of the member for Kiiwetinoong; the leadership of our Premier; the work that we’re doing with First Nations communities across this province; the House leader in particular, who showed real initiative on this request; and humbly, as the Minister of Indigenous Affairs, to have the opportunity to speak on this important matter too.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Meegwetch.