Senator LaBoucane-Benson: Of course.

Senator R. Patterson: Thank you. I’m not Indigenous; I am not Métis, First Nation or Inuit. I appreciate everything that’s been said so that we can understand the history and what “time immemorial” really means.

My question revolves around Métis identity. “Time immemorial,” based on Senator McCallum’s explanation, means “from the beginning into the future”; it’s a continuum — a continuous line. Part of a Métis person comes from settlers and another part comes from an Indigenous culture.

My question to you, as a Métis person, is this: If the language is not inclusive, would Métis people feel that part of them has been denied?