Status of Women committee  This can be weaponized. First off, I want to note that I recognize the comparison between the Amber alert system and what we're asking for with the red dress alert system. I'm going to be one of those people who doesn't believe that the Amber alert system is always the best system, because the police control who gets put forward in an Amber alert and who doesn't.

Status of Women committee  The overall goal must be for a red dress alert to produce actual, quantifiable material changes in the lives of indigenous women and girls, and 2SLGBT persons and their families. If a red dress alert response centre were created, there would also be related contact information and ways for the centre to be of assistance.

Status of Women committee  Good morning. My name is Melanie Omeniho, and I am president of Les Femmes Michif Otipemisiwak. I'd like to acknowledge that I'm joining you today from Treaty 6 territory and the home of the motherland of the Métis Nation. LFMO is the national indigenous women's organization that represents the voice of Métis women from across the Métis nation motherland.

Justice committee  Those are statistics we have from Stats Canada and other reports that have been done: 65% of Métis women have experienced intimate partner violence. However, I also want to tell you that with regard to a lot of this bill, what isn't being talked about in this committee is how the 2SLGBTQQIA+ community is also affected by gender-based violence and the issues that relate to coercive control.

Justice committee  Many of the women in our community don't even understand what their rights are or how to protect themselves. Very often, they're in these very unhealthy, codependent-type relationships. They start protecting the perpetrator rather than protecting themselves. Sometimes it means the loss of their children to child welfare systems.

Justice committee  I agree with you that indigenous women are treated differently within these various institutions and systems that were set up to protect most people. They feel very vulnerable, and they don't feel protected. I think this is a tool that can be used, but I just want to clarify to this committee that, yes, there is a gender-based violence plan under Women and Gender Equality Canada.

Justice committee  When it comes to intimate partner violence, very often police may misinterpret, but I want to tell you what our experience has been with the women we've worked with who have told us their stories. It's that very often the police officers don't take their intimate partner violence seriously, and they are left to be victims.

Justice committee  I'm sorry; the interpretation was really bad. I apologize. I was trying to get it, but I didn't.

Justice committee  What I mean when I say that is that sometimes the physical violence as well as the emotional and financial violence that women are often victims of may not be as seen if they just focus on coercive control. It is important that, when they do these things, they don't leave out the other parts of intimate partner violence that can really be harmful to the people in our community.

Justice committee  Yes. I can, actually. First off, I want to say that the other thing that hasn't really been considered is that many of our very young women, who are often seen as children within the government process, are not protected with this bill. I think it's really important that we find something that includes them.

Justice committee  We need to define coercive control, because when you're relying, as you are with this bill, on police to be able to define that, and the justice system, if there aren't clear and defined parameters about what coercive control is, not only will our community not be able to see whether coercive control is part of what they're experiencing; the police will also, rather than help support them in pushing forward to put perpetrators into a position of being charged, say that they don't have enough parameters, or they're not sure if this meets it.

Justice committee  Thank you very much. My name is Melanie Omeniho. I'm the president of Les Femmes Michif Otipemisiwak. I'd like to acknowledge that I'm joining you today from Treaty 6 territory and the motherland of the Métis nation. Les Femmes Michif is known as a national indigenous women's organization that is mandated to represent women of the Métis nation across the Métis nation motherland.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  For us, there are significant numbers of laws and things that need to be done and that, once self-government is implemented, will be within the control of our Métis governments to institute: things like decisions and laws based on family and child services and how to care for our families and children in a reformed manner from what exists today so that we don't have high numbers of kids in care.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you for the question. I'd like to tell you that, for many women in our communities, it means that their roles are much more significant. We come from a strong egalitarian society where women were a significant part of all of the things that we did. You can see that in the leadership that exists within the Métis nation and how many of our leaders are Métis women who are holding strong and pushing forward on Métis rights.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you. Before I start, I want to say how proud I am of Hayden. I've known Hayden since he was a very young man, and he does make my heart big. Good afternoon. My name is Melanie Omeniho. I'm the president of Women of the Métis Nation-Les Femmes Michif Otipemisiwak. I'd like to acknowledge that I'm joining you today from Treaty 6 territory, the motherland of the Métis nation.