 Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome. My name is Murray Rankin. I'm the Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation. I'd like to say how honored we are and thankful to people who travel from around the province to be with us on what is truly an historic day. It's only fitting to come together on such a momentous occasion. I'd like to acknowledge first that we are meeting on the traditional territory of the Lekwungen-speaking peoples, today the Esquimalt and Sonhees nations. Thank you for your welcome to this beautiful land. I'd first like to call upon Elder Shirley Alphonse, Elder to the Premier, and from the Cowichan tribes to lead us in a welcome and a prayer. Good afternoon, everyone. I'd like to welcome you today as I acknowledge this, the ancestral lands of the Lekwungen-Swapsen peoples. Coast Salish nations create a great spirit. As we gather here together we say thank you. Thank you for today and for each one here. Chiefs from our communities, Legislature members, we thank you for this time together to share our table. We thank you for the blessing this day brings. Thank you for all the good Mother Earth is, beauty and bounty looking after us, looking after us now, and we'll be looking after our children, our grandchildren, future generations to carry on the good works that we today work towards to live life. Each child to be loved, to be guided in teachings of our ancestors, to respect and care for one another, to respect and care for Mother Earth and all life on Earth. Thank you very much Shirley. I'd like to now introduce Chief Russ Chips from the Shianu who is going to perform a song accompanied by Rick Peter and Alana Jay doing the drumming. Chief Chips, Rick and Alana, we're starting us off in such a powerful way. Really appreciate this. I now have the pleasure of welcoming to the stage the Lekwungen dancers who will perform for us. Good morning everybody. I have to apologize. Our dancers were injured this morning so we couldn't get any dances but you know we're going to sing for you. We were initially taught back in 1978 by my late Uncle Ray Peters, my cousin over there, his father. We sing some of the songs that he had taught us and we're just blessed that we can still continue to do so. The first song we're going to sing for you is our panel welcome. Thank you so much. I'd now like to introduce the Honorable Mitzi Dean, Minister of Children and Family Development to say a few words. Well thank you Minister Rankin and thank you so much to my friends and mentors. Elder Shirley, Brother Rick, Chief Chips, Alana and to the Lekwungen dancers for starting us off in such a good way. I'm so grateful to everybody who's made the journey to come here today and as Minister of Children and Family Development it's my great honor to be with you at this important event and so many people have worked so hard over a very long time to make this happen. Our government is committed to reconciliation and nowhere is this work more important than in the area of child and family services. Indigenous peoples have long told government that the current child welfare system is a continuation of harmful colonial practices. The calls to action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission begin with demands for changing the child welfare system to address the legacies and impacts of child welfare policies on outcomes for Indigenous people in Canada. Ongoing findings of unmarked burial sites on the grounds of former so-called residential schools have shown Canadians what you and your communities have always known. The violence and harm that the colonial system inflicted upon Indigenous peoples and that this pain and trauma continues to this day through the child welfare system. Through the Declaration Act Action Plan our government committed to working with Indigenous partners to end the epidemic of Indigenous children and youth in care. The harms caused by racist structures, beliefs and practices has resulted in a disproportionate number of Indigenous children and youth in care and fundamental changes needed so future generations can thrive. And making fundamental changes is what we're doing today. We are introducing a bill and that is all about that. I have the great honour of introducing a bill that will modernise the Child and Family and Community Service Act and the Adoption Act. We've been working collaboratively with Indigenous peoples to put the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples into action. Today is about respecting Indigenous families and recognising the significant work and dedication of our Indigenous partners who made this possible. We wouldn't be here today without the guidance and collaboration of Indigenous rights holders, governing bodies, modern treaty nations, Métis Nation and Indigenous partners including the First Nations Leadership Council. I am so honoured to be here today and I look forward to our first reading in the chambers later. Thank you for being here. Thank you very much, Mitzi. It's just incredible. I'd now like to welcome Willie Charlie from the Steylis to say a few words. I'd like to introduce myself as Chukwakwit, my traditional English name, Willie Charlie, just acknowledging the people of the land, acknowledging and thanking the elder for prayer to start us in a good way and that my being is filled up with goodness to see each and every one of you today. I really want to acknowledge the good work that we're embarking on. I'd like to think that it's a start of this good work. I want to acknowledge the provincial government and some of the workers that have been consulting with a few groups that have been doing some great work on advocating for our children. Our elders say that our children are our most precious resource. Our children have an inherent right to know who they are, where they come from, what they belong to. That inheritance is something that we need to ensure gets incorporated into the work going forward. When we first started talking with the provincial government in Canada about coordination agreement, they said, well, we first need to develop our law. And I said, we don't need to develop our law. We have our law. We have our ceremonies. We have our ways of looking after all of our relationships to the land, to the water, to the wing, to the forelegged, to the ones that swim in the river and the ocean, how we were supposed to look after each other and look after that most precious resource. Because a part of their right is to have that language, those songs, those dances. It's about time that we modernize, was the word, this law that hasn't really worked for us. And if the government is committed to reconciliation, implementing the UNDRIP, then that ongoing consultation about including then those cultural values, those beliefs, our laws into that. We're not going to probably get it right the first time around, but hopefully we have an opportunity to fix it as we go along. Again, we don't have to really develop something new. We have to find a way to describe it so that the Western world can understand it. We stand them up in ceremony. We celebrate the birth of a child, their precious gift that they bring into this world, and they have their place. There's so much that I would like to say at times like this, but acknowledging the good work, not only from the British Columbia folks, but the First Nations that have been represented at that table. And we keep mentioning that the time period that we've been given, how do we have meaningful input with the time frame that is there? How do we tell you and explain to you our laws with the time frames that we have? And so it's going to be ongoing work. And we'd like to mark things in ceremony. Really grateful for the singers to come in to celebrate. This is a historic day. Recent history I'd referred to as the dark era has really oppressed our people. And we're starting to turn that page through reconciliation to hopefully a better chapter. But we need to be involved in the writing of that chapter. We would generally cover people with a blanket so that you have a cover your heart so that you remember you're working for, remember who you're doing that work for. You might put a cedar headband on, so you have a good mind, a strong mind, a clear mind doing this work. We can't really take shortcuts because our children can't afford it. We need to return those children. So I was going to try to, I said I would try to keep within their time period, but I also want to share a song. If we were doing this the right way, we would have a ceremony. We should have a ceremony to ground our work in ceremony. And every significant step along the way, we should be grounded into our culture. We should be inviting the elders from different places, you know, to recognize the children. And I think when you start it in ceremony, the work is going to go right. So that's the challenge to British Columbia. Let's do it right. Let's start in ceremony when we get back to that table. And this song here it acknowledges here it's a good day. It also acknowledges the good work and the words in the song, that's what they will say. And so hopefully it'll encourage us again to be meaningful in our discussions. So again, I'm going to just think about those that we've lost in the system. We have way, way too many of our resources, our children, our precious ones that have been lost in the system. And we've got to find the ways to return them and keep the families together. So this is a song that comes through one of my nephews. And again, it's thanking you, respected people, friends and relatives for your it's a good day, but it also acknowledges the good work today. Thank you so much, Willie. And thank you for putting this into a broader context for us today and grounding us. And thank you for the beautiful song. I'd now like to call upon Councillor Stephanie Atlio of the Cowichan Tribes. Hi, Squail, Siem Naciea, and the Snipe Tanat. Hi, Tsepka, Siem, to the Kuangan families for welcoming us here. Thank you to our elder for starting us in a good way and the songs that were shared this morning. Hi, Tsepka. Hi, Tsepka. Premier Horgan, Minister Dean, Minister Rankin, Chiefs, Couch and Miss Dimo and guests, it's a pleasure and honor for me to be here with you today. Couch and Tribes Chief and Council and our Child and Family Services Agency, Lola Matal Spenem, are pleased to acknowledge the hard work by the province, the Ministry of Child and Family Services, the participating First Nations, and our own agency in co-developing the legislative amendments to the CFCSA. These changes represent a significant step towards reconciliation by recognizing for the past 150 years the laws and policies regarding Indigenous children and child welfare have had a severe impact on Indigenous families, including our Couch and Families. The recognition of our inherent rights to govern and provide services for our children and families provide a new and positive path forward. It is the inherent right of the Couch and Tribes to protect, care for, and nurture our children. The welfare of our children within the jurisdiction of the Couch and Tribes is of paramount importance to our nation. Couch and Tribes is in the best position to protect our children through stabilizing and strengthening families. We are committed to securing for each Couch and Child the physical and emotional care and guidance for them to thrive preferably in their own homes. Similarly, we know that preserving and strengthening family connections will also preserve and strengthen the Child's cultural and tribal identities. These inherent rights and responsibilities must be considered in all decision-making with respect to Couch and Children and Families. The federal child and family legislation, Truth and Recognition Commission 94 calls to action, United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, section 35 of the Constitution Act 1982, along with other important legal instruments including the United Nations Convention of the Rights of Child of the Child, provide an established and principled framework for forming Indigenous Children's Welfare and Family Services in BC. Collectively, they establish minimum standards for respecting and protecting Indigenous human rights, the rights of children, Indigenous laws and jurisdiction, and the common law Aboriginal rights of our Couch and Families. We are pleased that BC has demonstrated their support by establishing this legislative framework. This day heralds the achievement of the goals pursued for many years by successive chiefs and councils. Couch and Tribes looks forward to working together with the province on implementing this new direction. Hi, Tepka. Thanks very much, Stephanie, for those thoughtful remarks. I now like to call upon Acting Cookby, George Lamprow, of the Simp First Nation. Wait, who I tip, George Lamprow and Squest, to me, call it a Simp and Acting Cookby. I'd like to begin by thanking the elders for the prayer, the dancers, the singers. It's a great way to open this up and it grounds us. I'd like to pay my respects and acknowledgment to the Lekungwan peoples who are known today as the Songhees and Squymalt First Nations. I wish to thank you for allowing me here on your territory to share some words regarding the Minister's legislation amendments to the Child Family and Community Service Act and Adoptions Act. I'd like to acknowledge and pay my deepest respects to Indigenous Nation leadership, government officials, child welfare technicians, and legal council gathered here today. You all played an important role in contributing to the legislative amendments that will, for the first time in a province's history, enable our Indigenous Nations the opportunity to implement our inherent self-governing rights, respecting the enactment and exercise our own jurisdiction over our families and children. Our Simp First Nation has enjoyed a very respectful, collaborative, solution-based relationship with the Ministry that has evolved on April 12, 2022. We signed a huge historic co-created Tech West Massentum Agreement, or Section 92.1. I must comment that we generally felt MCFD wanted this, wanted to accomplish this as much as we did, and for that I am very grateful. I'm similarly grateful for the Minister's request to participate in the legislative amendment process that I was made aware of and can take up to two to three years. I'm very pleased that the long-awaited legislation is now moving forward and that we will remove barriers for our Indigenous Nations to exercise their self-determination and bring their own laws for the well-being and the best interest of their children and families in a way that only we can, based on our respective cultures, legal traditions, customs and values, all the things that sustained our people enabled us to thrive as distinct nations since time immemorial. We all know the widely disproportionate number of our children and youth in the foster care system. In some parts of the province, it is as high as a 75%. And our families who are enmeshed in the child welfare system that have not, and not of our making, and I feel it changed to help accomplish this. As Minister Dean said at our signing ceremony in Simp, a guiding light forward that is based on a true path of reconciliation. It is not lost on me that BC is the first province to legislate the United Nations Declaration of Rights on Indigenous Peoples into the provincial law and that my nation was previously recognized, involved in participating and amending the Wildlife Act. That along with today's legislation amendments represent to me real courage and true leadership by the province in seeking to turn the page from history of adverse colonial impacts to one where we Indigenous Nations start to chart our own path forward. I would like to take this opportunity to single out a few people I feel that went above and beyond and to provide my sincere gratitude to the minister for the revolving door and the deputy minister for acknowledging their tremendous leadership and their hard work that I witnessed through the genuine commitment and actions in supporting our Indigenous peoples. Thank you to the Honourable Mitzi Dean and Deputy Minister Allison Bond. You both travelled to you both travelled to our community and visited our signing ceremony on April 12th. That was a huge honour to have you both in our community which really cemented our positive and productive relationship. For that I am grateful on behalf of the Simp membership with our members in the development of the implementation of our inherent yachminum requisseltenke looking after our people's law. I wish to conclude by wishing each and every one of you my heartfelt best wishes as each of you work on the enactment and implementation of our inherent laws for our children and families. Thank you very much. Cooks gem. Thanks so much George. I'd now like to call upon Councillor Teresa William of this vaccine to say a few words. Why quick, why not? I would like to thank you for starting us off in a great way and the opening prayer. You know this is how everything is supposed to start and I agree that we're supposed to start everything off with the ceremony. So as I hold the portfolio for the children and families, it is my pleasure to be in attendance today to speak about the importance of the proposed amendments introduced today and in particular the amendments to the province's child family and community services act. As many of you know in this room, Splatsheen has been exercising our jurisdiction under our spell machine child welfare bylaw made under the Indian Act since 1980. It has been a unique and successful model of the exercise of our jurisdiction over child and family services. The right to self-government and the right to care for our children and families according to our own laws and inherent rights that all Indigenous people have and these rights are foundational because our children are at the center of our communities and are vital to our existence. Soquette Mclaws acknowledge the place of children and at the foundation and the center of the Soquette Mcgovernance. Our children are a gift from our creator and each child comes into the world connecting to our tamir which means lands, air, water, and everything around us. Soquette Mclaws concerning child rearing and training are embedded within Soquette Mculu. Soquette Mclaws specify who in the extended family has a responsibility to transfer specific knowledge to a child. However in the past under provincial child welfare legislation, Soquette Mclaws and legal orders have not been respected and Splatsheen's authority and decision making for the care of our children has been undermined. There have been other times when the province takes steps to assume authority over Splatsheen children under provincial law contrary to the province's previous commitments to respect our jurisdiction and contrary to our bylaw on these occasions council has to rely on the bylaw to challenge provincial child welfare laws and policies being applied to Splatsheen children in court and with the minister. Splatsheen hopes that we are entering into a new era with these new legislative amendments where our inherent rights to self-government including the right to care for our children and families according to our own laws will be respected and upheld so that we no longer have to engage in time consuming and costly jurisdiction with disputes with the province and instead use our time energy and resources to care for our children and our families. That said we have some concerns with the provinces process for the development of these amendments and ongoing concerns about what is in the amendments and our changes and the changes requested by other Indigenous governing bodies have not been incorporated. The provinces process was very rushed and gave leadership very little time to consider the proposed changes and what it might mean for us. The province must do better in its process of collaborating on legislation. There must be proper time and space for us to do this work given that what is developed may have impacts on our children, our families and our community and our nations. We will wait we'll have to wait and see whether these amendments truly begin a relationship between the province and Splachine where barriers will be removed as we exercise our jurisdiction under our bylaw and there will be renewed collaboration with us when we seek the province's assistant to support their children and families. Again we remain hopeful that the ministry is charting a new path for themselves and will make the changes that they so desperately need to do given their long history of denial of our rights. Splachine of course will carry on as we have always done exercising our inherent rights and jurisdiction included under our bylaw for our children notwithstanding residency and our children that are eligible to be registered. Cooks-Chem. Thank you very much Teresa for constructive criticism and putting on the table some things that are changing. We really appreciate that that work in that context. Finally I'd like to call upon Councillor Edward Johnson of Du Heyet to say a few words. Can you send some prayers out to your loved ones and we're going to call in our ancestors to witness the day. My name is Edward Ralph Johnson from Ohio First Nations one of five Mahnooth you know modern treaty nation also one of the new channels all on the west coast of Vancouver Island. I think that everybody's said exactly what I wanted to say. I think that Du Heyet has been working for several years to bring our children home and you know we we are guided by the experiences of our families and the voices of our citizens who have lived the effects of residential school and the traumatization of removal of our children. You know I think that I really wanted to mention that because I think that we've come a long ways. You know I I believe one of our speakers is from Morech at Muchlett Jerry Jack and I think that the representation of our people are are coming and there's been a lot of change you know since Chief McQuenna had welcomed somebody that was lost to Vancouver Island you know and I think that somewhere on the back of this building Chief McQuenna is there so I just wanted to to acknowledge that I think that once upon a time it was illegal for us to have legal representation. You know in 1996 the CFCSA came into effect you know and it took over from something that was very colonial and I think that the changes the minimal changes that has happened since 1996 I think today is a very significant and beautiful day and I think that the steps that that we need to take you know and moving forward you know I acknowledge BC and Canada you know for embarking on this journey in preparing themselves to walk on the path with us I think that is significant you know there's been a lot of change happening that's not my phone but I just really wanted to to recognize that you know we have an inherent right to make our laws you know to to look after our children and families and it's it's it's always been there and this essential step forward is is key you know though the word was said earlier reconciliation you know I feel that we're we're just starting to scratch the surface of of that you know we're starting to sink our teeth and our claws into it and to to really make a difference in moving forward I just wanted to say click go click go and thank you for the opportunity to speak true wow thank you very much Edward and thank you for that very moving chant and that lovely summary I know we've got time I think for a quick photo if I could invite folks maybe people who can take pictures to come forward you that you're sure this guy here