Evidence of meeting #32 for Status of Women in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was aboriginal.

A recording is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

MPs speaking

Also speaking

Claudette Dumont-Smith  Executive Director, Native Women's Association of Canada
Cindy Blackstock  Executive Director, First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada

4:25 p.m.

Executive Director, First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada

Dr. Cindy Blackstock

Thank you, member. It's a very important question.

It's one that the Parliamentary Budget Officer asked when he did his review of first nations schools. So we'll make it a particular concern of ours following on your colleague's mention. We'll send you a copy of that report.

What they found is that there was no clear process inside the aboriginal affairs department for deciding which communities receive schools and which do not. That was one of his central recommendations, that there need to be some kind of clear criteria set out.

He found that 50 communities needed schools. As you may know, in Thunder Bay, for example, many first nations children, including some as young as 13, are having to fly down from their communities to go to school . I have an 18-year-old at home and I think many of us have kids. We don't even want to see them going away at 18, let alone at 13. They're getting into at-risk behaviours.

Twenty nine others need substantial repairs, according to the Parliamentary Budget Officer. Even in communities where there are good quality schools, the estimate is that there is underfunding in the basic formula for education—for teachers, libraries, and those types of things—by $2,000 to $3,000 per student per year.

Despite that, in some areas both the teachers and schools are able to do good work. But I think you can agree with me that good public policy is when success is the rule and not the exception. So we need to bring everybody up to that basic standard of equity and I think that it would be worth it for the government to look into how these schools are actually allocated. What are the criteria? How do we ensure that they're going to those most in need?

I think that's a very important question.

4:25 p.m.

Conservative

Tilly O'Neill-Gordon Conservative Miramichi, NB

How much time do I have?

4:25 p.m.

NDP

The Chair NDP Marie-Claude Morin

You have 30 seconds left.

You have 30 seconds.

As Ms. O'Neill Gordon tells me that she has finished, we now move to Ms. Freeman. You have about two and a half minutes.

4:25 p.m.

NDP

Mylène Freeman NDP Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel, QC

Thank you.

Given the brevity of my time, I just want to quickly say thank you for all the work that you're both doing. It's incredible work and you're both such wonderful advocates. I really appreciate the time that you've taken to come here today.

I am going to ask you both to essentially give us an update. Tell us how inadequate housing and shelter on reserve, and maybe the inaccessibility of some areas, and even urban areas, affect aboriginal girls' future economic prospects, given that we know that there's a link between a lack of housing, lack of shelter, and violence.

What recommendations could you offer the government to address that situation?

Thank you.

4:25 p.m.

Executive Director, Native Women's Association of Canada

Claudette Dumont-Smith

Well, what you say is right: there is more violence in the communities. Overcrowding is an issue, and we know that overcrowding causes violence and mental health issues as well. That's probably why a lot of the young women leave home when they're not ready to leave.

When I say they're not ready, it's that they don't know enough about the outside world, so to speak. But they do take that risk. They leave and we know where they end up. I think you're well aware of the 580 some aboriginal women, many very young, who ended up on Vancouver's east side and they're either dead or missing. I think all of that is interrelated. I think that housing has to be improved.

As for shelters, there are shelters on the reserve, but it's a situation where everybody knows everybody. Usually the communities are small and everybody knows everybody. Are the young women accessing services there? I'm doubtful about that.

I think that where there are no services in the communities for young females.... But as I mentioned earlier, I want to stress that there are friendship centres that are good places, which young women who are leaving their communities should be made aware of and where they can go for services.

I know that the friendship centres as well are very underfunded. I think the government has a prime opportunity to work with the friendship centres and to offer these services to the young women, because the end results are very sad.

4:30 p.m.

NDP

The Chair NDP Marie-Claude Morin

I have to interrupt you, Ms. Dumont-Smith. That was very interesting.

At this point, we end today's meeting. We will meet again next Monday: same time, same channel. I wish you a very good evening and I thank our witnesses very much for appearing today.

(Meeting adjourned)