Hon. Scott Tannas: Honourable senators, on behalf of my colleagues in the Canadian Senators Group, I welcome Senator Margo Greenwood to the Senate. Senator Greenwood is described as an internationally recognized and highly respected Indigenous scholar of Cree ancestry.

It was lovely to see you take your oath in Cree today.

She is a researcher and an author with over 30 years of experience examining the health and well-being of Indigenous communities, families and, as has been said, especially children, with over 130 publications. Senator Greenwood is a leader in her field and has chaired many research institutes in Canada. The Senate and all Canadians will benefit from her analytical skills and her input into public policy.

Senator Greenwood, in addition to your academic credentials as a distinguished professor, you have something else to contribute. In an interview you gave to Windspeaker.com, you spoke about changing what you called “lived realities”:

The ability to dream is so fundamentally important, because we can, in our own ways, see a different reality. To be able to dream is to be able to hope.

“Change requires the ability to dream with the courage to act,” you said. I believe that this can apply to all of us. I hope that with your interventions in this place, you will help us all to dream better and to have the courage to act.

Senator Greenwood, welcome to the Senate. My colleagues and I look forward to working with you.