Evidence of meeting #13 for Status of Women in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was communities.
A recording is available from Parliament.
5 p.m.
Conservative
5 p.m.
Bloc
Nicole Demers Bloc Laval, QC
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Ms. Morency, since 2005, Sisters in Spirit has been accomplishing important work on the disappearances and murders of First Nations women. Have you asked them to participate in your working group?
5 p.m.
Acting General Counsel, Criminal Law Policy Section, Department of Justice
The work that's been undertaken through the federal-provincial-territorial working group on missing women is being informed by the work that exists and has been done elsewhere. So officials at the federal and provincial levels who work on this working group are very much aware of the Sisters in Spirit project.
5 p.m.
Bloc
Nicole Demers Bloc Laval, QC
I asked if you invited Sisters in Spirit to participate in your working group.
5 p.m.
Acting General Counsel, Criminal Law Policy Section, Department of Justice
No, it's a government official working group. But obviously we do take into consideration the substantial work undertaken by the Native Women's Association of Canada.
5 p.m.
Bloc
Nicole Demers Bloc Laval, QC
Ms. Quinn, when you talked about the Healing Foundation, you said that the money that had been redistributed to health would still be used for the healing process. Will this money be used by the Healing Foundation or by individuals? Did I understand correctly that you said it would be for the individuals rather than the organization, serving the individuals' interests?
5:05 p.m.
Director General, Social Policy and Programs Branch, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
Thank you for asking the question.
I would like to clarify my answers. From what I know, the funding is not going to the foundation because it no longer exists. The funding is...
from Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Service Canada, and Health Canada.
My understanding is that it goes to the individuals, but I would need to clarify that for the committee. I have some information with me, but I don't have all the information about the funding and the budget and who it goes to.
5:05 p.m.
Bloc
Nicole Demers Bloc Laval, QC
Mr. Paulson, two young women disappeared in Maniwaki two years ago. Unfortunately, their disappearance went unnoticed. Moreover, we still have no news about them. It seems that no one cares about the situation. It is very discouraging. When it is a white male or female disappearing, the photo is in the media, on TV for months. When it is an Aboriginal woman, a First Nations woman—the two young women were 16 and 17—there is nothing; we see or hear nothing about it.
5:05 p.m.
Assistant Commissioner, Contract and Aboriginal Policing, Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Okay.
That's the case in a lot of missing persons cases. It's the tragic aspect.
One of the things we're working on is trying to put together a little bit more of a coordinated effort at making information available to victims and communities, so they can access in a central location information about the state of their case or what's going on around them.
It's very frustrating, I agree.
5:05 p.m.
Conservative
The Vice-Chair Conservative Cathy McLeod
Thank you.
Our last of the day is Ms. Mathyssen for three minutes.
5:05 p.m.
NDP
Irene Mathyssen NDP London—Fanshawe, ON
Thank you, Madam Chair.
I want to pursue what Madam Demers was talking about, because this is not clear to me. I want to know what role NWAC, in the Sisters in Spirit campaign, will play in regard to the working group and the work that continues from this point on. I want to know what they will be doing and how their expertise will be utilized.
I, too, am very unclear about the Aboriginal Healing Foundation. I know it's gone. I know you said there is $200 million for INAC and Health Canada. I know what the healing foundation did--family outreach, counselling, advocacy--but what is Health Canada going to do? What specifically are they going to do? It seems to me that the expertise was with those people at the Aboriginal Healing Foundation. This seems very much like...well, there's a little bit of paternalism, but it seems like taking the ability of those who have the expertise, the will, and the passion to continue with the action and throwing it away, disseminating it.
So if you could help me with that, please....
5:05 p.m.
Acting General Counsel, Criminal Law Policy Section, Department of Justice
On the first question about the federal-provincial-territorial working group on missing women, it's a group of officials of the different federal and provincial governments that brings together their expertise, which is informed by work undertaken at local, regional, and provincial levels to address issues of all missing women in Canada, including, obviously, aboriginal women. In terms of the Sisters in Spirit or NWAC sitting in as part of this group, no, they do not. But that's not to say that the substantial work that Sisters in Spirit has done with their report is not being taken into consideration by this working group. There are other groups that have been very active in this area. I would note, for example, the Saskatchewan 2007 report on missing persons as well.
The work of the working group is to look at how all points in the criminal justice system deal with reports of all missing persons, from the time a person, the family, or a loved one contacts police, victims' services, or another social service. Is there a way we can enhance collaboration between agencies? Is there a way to address some of the issues that have been identified by the RCMP as best practices?
The intention here is to try to come at it from a broad, systemic approach to facilitate how we deal with the victims and how we support the victims' families through these cases. Public Safety has estimated that 100,000 persons are reported missing annually and that approximately 4,800 persons may still be missing after one year. What we're trying to do is identify best practices that will get to the core of those persons who are truly missing and not, for example, runaway kids or persons who leave for other reasons and then come back or are found by family.
5:10 p.m.
Conservative
The Vice-Chair Conservative Cathy McLeod
Thank you very much.
I'd like to thank all of the witnesses. I think you've added some very great value to our study.
We'll suspend now. We're going to go in camera, so we'll take a minute to clear the room.
[Proceedings continue in camera]