July 5, 2006
Check Against Delivery
Thank you all for being here today.
I want to start with a thank you to the Elders and the Chiefs who have kept the light and the torch of aboriginal culture and history in stories, burning across our province’s history.
Today as we think of what we’re accomplishing, I think it’s a time for us to look back, as well as to look forward.
I want to say thank you once again to the Squamish First Nation for welcoming us to their lands, for welcoming us to their school, for the leadership that they have shown across the province, and for working together in the community to build a stronger future for all of us.
Today as we sit here in this incredible place, we are guarded over by two mountains above us, Two Sisters, who look down across this great expanse of ocean and valley and said that they wanted to remind us all to live in harmony and peace. I think that education and understanding is the beginning of harmony and peace.
Today we celebrate because of the leadership of the National Indian Brotherhood back in 1972, and equally because of a generation of people who have worked together and strived to bring this day to fruition. I want to say thank you to Nathan Matthews of the Simpcw First Nation. I want to say thank you to Edward John of the Tl'azt'en Nation, and to all of the people who worked so hard to bring this day to its conclusion.
This is a conclusion of the past. It is the opening of the future.
I want to pay a special tribute to the federal Minister of Indian and Northern Development, Jim Prentice. I first met Minister Prentice just a few weeks ago when he took on his responsibilities. He said to me that his primary goal in the short term was to open educational opportunities for first nations across British Columbia. He understood that to do that, we’d have to recognize first nations’ culture, we’d have to celebrate first nations’ language, we’d have to share first nations’ stories with young first nations students, and we’d have to allow first nations to lead us forward in educational development
