Thank you very much and good morning.

First, I'd like to acknowledge that after getting an invitation on Friday, preparing for and showing up on a Tuesday morning has been a pretty tall task, but given the importance of this issue and how it directly implicates my community and nation, I could not miss an opportunity to speak to it.

I know that many people are coming here and speaking about the impacts that pretend Indians have on securing contracts through procurement. As a chief, I want to speak a bit about the broader impacts of pretend Indians and what they do to communities and nations.

As mentioned, I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge that we are on the traditional territory of my ancestors. We're always happy to welcome everyone here to conduct their business given its importance.

We are here to discuss an issue of profound importance, which is the impact of individuals who falsely claim indigenous identity, or pretend Indians, on the inherent and treaty rights of first nations peoples. The phenomenon is not a mere abstract concern, but has real, tangible consequences that undermine the rights and sovereignty of indigenous communities across the country.

I want to go further and say that a large part of the problem is federal policy. It is to blame for the upswing in fake Indian institutions like the Métis Nation of Ontario and the Algonquins of Ontario, thus allowing individuals tied to these corporations to pretend to be something they are not, exercise section 35 rights that they don't have and, of course, extract benefits that they are not entitled to.

The federal government has created and funded pretend Indian organizations like the Algonquins of Ontario as they serve a useful purpose. They are used to manufacture consent when the real rights holders demand that the government honour its obligations under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, including free, prior and informed consent.

The issue of recognition and protection of inherent rights is, or should be, paramount to any Crown government regarding sovereign indigenous peoples and the relationship between us. Unfortunately, there are still many flaws in our relationship with the Crown. Continued colonial and unilateral policy creates new Indians, like the Algonquins of Ontario, under different rules than those that we must follow. It's a lack of true recognition of our self-determination rights to decide for ourselves who are the Algonquin Anishinabe of our nation.

The federal Indian Act has caused confusion and has misinformed generations because the Indian Act has disconnected our people from their true indigenous governments. The problem here has been the century and a half of Indian Act rules and ignoring indigenous human rights to self-determination or simply running roughshod over them when it was convenient.

When individuals falsely claim to be indigenous, they are not just engaging in cultural appropriation; they are exploiting these rights for personal, financial or social gain. This has direct consequences on the lives of real indigenous people. False claims can distort policy discussions, divert resources and even undermine the legitimacy of the rights we are fighting to protect. Those who falsely identify as indigenous can often gain access to funding, scholarships, employment and other benefits that are rightly reserved for first nations.

The consequences of this harm are wide-reaching. False claims can undermine the work of indigenous leaders like me who are advocating for meaningful policy change, like improving housing outcomes, developing resources and protecting land, as in the ongoing legal fight we have against the Canadian government to stop a nuclear waste dump from being built beside the Ottawa River.

These claims create confusion and division within the broader Canadian society, hindering true reconciliation and the understanding of what it means to be indigenous in this country. In addition, the rising trend of pretend Indians further complicates efforts to protect our rights in court. When people falsely claim a connection to indigenous identity, it erodes the credibility of legitimate claims and weakens the voices of people whose rights have been historically ignored, violated and stripped away.

It is therefore vital that we remain vigilant in defending the integrity of our cultures and histories and that we call out false claims for what they are. This is not just about protecting the rights of individuals; it's about protecting the rights of our future and our nations.

Meegwetch. Thank you.