Honourable senators, when he last spoke on this bill, the Leader of the Government in the Senate quoted Shakespeare, so allow me to join in on the fun.

“What do you read, My Lord?” Polonius asks Hamlet. Hamlet answers, “Words, words, words.” I’m sorry, but I’m not in theatre, so I’m not a very good actor.

Indeed, honourable senators, our Prime Minister has graced us with a lot of words. During the last federal election campaign, we heard many lofty words about reconciliation with Indigenous peoples in this country. Some of the promises he made are harder to keep than others, but certainly the one we have before us today is fairly straightforward and simple: Do not rename in a riding without consulting the people in it.

The proposed change to the riding of Manicouagan would disrespect the Indigenous people who live there. We have seen this sort of thing done by colonizers around the world for hundreds if not thousand of years. Without naming names, more than one group of people has resisted when relative newcomers renamed ancestral lands after themselves. So if a rose by any other name would still smell as sweet, why not name it wisely and inclusively? Let the name of the rose better reflect the richness, beauty and diversity of all those who spring forth from the land.

Last May, eight chiefs of the Innu Nation signed a letter proposing a name for the riding that would meet all these criteria. These eight chiefs are opposed to Bill C-402, which would change the name of the riding of Manicouagan to Côte-Nord.

Given the plethora of election promises the Prime Minister made about consulting Indigenous peoples, they naturally expect to be consulted.

If this song sounds familiar, it is because we have heard it so many times before. It is, honourable senators, if you don’t mind a double meaning, a broken record. The word “Manicouagan” is an Innu word referring to the largest reservoir in the district. Visible from space, it is a ring-shaped body of water and has long been the site of traditional and religious activities of Innu families.

In their wisdom, the chiefs recognize that the riding name as it is does not reflect the current population and could be improved. They therefore recommend a name that takes into account the Indigenous, French and English heritage of its inhabitants.

The chiefs recommend the name “Nitassinan—Côte-Nord and Lower North Shore.” Nitassinan is an Innu word meaning “our land.” In their own words, Your Honour, the chiefs say:

Wiping an Indigenous name from an electoral map and replacing it with ”Côte-Nord,“ a uniquely French name, would be contrary to the spirit of reconciliation advocated by the current federal government. This term does not have the same meaning and magnitude as Manicouagan and, contrary to the claims of the Bloc Québécois MP for Manicouagan, the term ”Côte-Nord” is not at all representative of that region.

On the one hand, it obscures the previous Indigenous occupation of the site and, on the other, it also ignores the presence of the English-speaking fishermen in the Basse-Côte-Nord, not to mention the fact that the towns of Fermont, Schefferville, Matimekush-Lac John and Kawawachikamach are quite far from the so-called Côte-Nord as they are geographically located in the interior.

Today, I’m asking my colleagues to think carefully about what these eight Innu chiefs are proposing and to keep an open mind. Do not ignore the wisdom of these chiefs simply because we’re being asked to adopt this bill before the next election. We’re not here to fast-track bills or to adopt them without first diligently studying them.

I ask honourable senators today to think carefully about what the Innu chiefs are proposing. Drawing on the wisdom of the chiefs, I will therefore move an amendment at third reading, if necessary, in support of the chiefs’ wishes.