Member Calahoo Stonehouse: Mr. Speaker, I know that this government has met with chiefs. Meeting the chiefs is not the issue. The issue is that the chiefs have told me that this government heard them but did not respond to what they heard and definitely did not empower the chiefs. They were promised action but nothing in writing. They were invited to meetings but not invited to codevelop the bill. They were given nods but absolutely no authority, no investment, no shared decision-making, not a single clause that reflects their leadership. Consultation without authority is not treaty implementation; it is colonialism with better catering.

Hay-hay.

Member Calahoo Stonehouse: Well, let me go back to the 10-year-old minivan. Oh, goodness.

Member Calahoo Stonehouse: I try not to speak for all Indigenous peoples when I speak in this Assembly. I am Indigenous, yes, but I’m not all Indigenous people. We are a beautifully diverse group of languages, customs, traditions, and belief. We also have a colourful array of attitudes and anxieties. Although we may be unique in our world views, we are all pretty well united in the distrust of elected governments to act in our collective best interests. Remember, the residential schools may have been run by the churches, but it was funded by the governments, which means that all levels of government, as pointed out by the TRC commissioners’ 94 calls to action and final report, must meaningfully take up the work of reconciliation, and they must take it up with gusto, a spirit that is focused on building and striving for a reconciled future.

Member Calahoo Stonehouse: Land acknowledgements do four things: they practise respect, they declare ancestral territory, they honour and respect treaty, and they reflect the spirit of reconciliation. Reconciliation work will be ongoing and critical for all Albertans to coexist in a peaceful Alberta, where our relationships to each other, to the land, and to all of our citizens is of value, and it’s difficult work that each of us must do in treaty territory. All of our work matters – this work matters – but let’s not forget what sustains and nourishes each and every single one of us, and that is the land.

A land acknowledgement is a start, and it can remind us to do this. When I spoke earlier of the power of a land acknowledgement, I said that they have a power to move us closer emotionally and to really, truly appreciate the land in our hearts and minds. Affection can move mountains; it has to protect them. Moving from reciting a land acknowledgement or listening respectfully to a land acknowledgement is true heart work for all of us. It could lead to meaningful policy and legislative action that protects the land, or it could lead us all in our own lives away from the floor of this Assembly to the land, to the river, to the water which nourishes each of us and grounds us so we can be our best selves in this place.

That is what this government is going to do: always keep the lights on. But you can’t drink electricity. You can’t put out fires with electricity. You can’t drill for oil with just electricity. Albertans can only do these things with water: clean, safe, accessible water. I’ve seen the devastating impacts of what happens when Albertans do not have access to clean, safe, accessible water. This issue is not just First Nations, Métis; we also see it in southern Alberta, Mr. Speaker. We need a government that will take the position that all Albertans will have access to clean, accessible water. It’s a monumental threat. Water is life, and I’m here to protect it.

When that happens, that also then pushes up the wage demands across the board. It’s not that we were spending more. We happened to be a fortunate province that could give people more, and we were recognizing that the nurses who went and spent four years at university to get a degree should at least be paid as much as somebody who just got out of grade 12 and was driving a truck in an oil field. That’s why wages were high. When he says, “We brought that down,” what he’s really saying is, “We found a way to suppress the wages of Albertans.” That’s what he’s saying. “We found a way to take money away from you without looking like we’re taking money away from you,” which is essentially the consequence of his behaviour.