Status of Women committee  The only thing I would tell you is that this is the generation of communication. We need to really make sure that our young people are educated to be critical thinkers. As we can see, social media has its place and there are many benefits to it, but we always often see the negative aspects.

Status of Women committee  I would also agree. All three of them need to be changed. I don't think we can work on just one element and forget all the others. We need more funding and resources. We need more shelters for a second stage transitional [Inaudible—Editor]. There needs to be a lot more emphasis on even the laws that relate to partner violence or domestic violence in our communities.

Status of Women committee  It has always struck me that one of the things that have made us as successful as we are has been the amazing and powerful indigenous women who are around us. I had the great fortune of being raised by many of my grandmothers and aunties. They always taught us that we lift people up.

Status of Women committee  We've been a very active part of the missing and murdered indigenous women and girls process and the building of the national action plan. A very hefty response was given to try to address issues for the missing and murdered indigenous women and girls, but I want to tell you that at this time, there has not been enough action to implement the recommendations that were brought forward.

Status of Women committee  Part of our role, of course, our mandate, is to work with Métis women and gender-diverse people, so we try really hard to work with them, and we also work with the other Métis nation organizations and governments to start bringing in opportunities for a change of attitude. None of us, much like the previous person said, live in isolation from each other, and the only way that we're ever going to change how things work is to change the dynamic of how people see each other.

Status of Women committee  Good afternoon. My name is Melanie Omeniho and I am the president of Les Femmes Michif Otipemisiwak. I'd like to bring greetings on behalf of my board of directors and staff. I am located right now in the land of Treaty 6 and the Métis motherland, and am found in Edmonton at this time.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I have an easy answer to that. There can be no real reconciliation around our indigenous population and the work that we do, including with Bill C-15, unless indigenous women, girls, children and 2SLGBTQ are included in the conversations and the consultation. We make up the majority of the indigenous community, and we have to be a part of all conversations because we see things from another perspective.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I can go. Actually, why it's important for there to be a gender-based analysis used when we're working with Bill C-15 is that in the onset of the development of the UNDRIP within the United Nations, at that time, there was never a lot of work or process in looking at things from a gendered perspective.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you for the opportunity. We believe that UNDRIP provides the issues and a lens on human rights that haven't been addressed. The TRC and the missing and murdered report clearly identify that there are many significant issues that really haven't been addressed that are required for us to move forward in trying to create reconciliation and equality in this country.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I am. In conclusion, I support the work of this committee. We're hoping that Bill C-15 moves forward and will become an act that we can all start working on building an action plan for that we can be proud of. I thank you for this opportunity today.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Good afternoon. Thank you for the opportunity to come and present to the committee on behalf of Les Femmes Michif Otipemisiwak, which is the Women of the Métis Nation. It's a continuing journey to ensure equality of rights, of treatment and of access to education, health, employment, justice and democratic leadership among Métis women and two-spirit and gender-diverse people across the Métis motherland.

Public Safety committee  In my view, I believe that when police officers are dealing with individuals, instead of first seeing them as potential criminals, they need to hear their stories and be able to see what they can do and how they can address people. In a community.... I can give you example after example of where women very often have been incarcerated when they've actually been victims of violence.

Public Safety committee  I believe it would. There are some models of community engagement, and oversight boards do help. I believe that some of them do have, or ensure there are indigenous people engaged. It helps people to have confidence in the police services, and it helps to ensure there is a healthy oversight within the system.

Public Safety committee  Honestly, there are many barriers to Métis women going into law enforcement. I do have some very good friends and allies who are Métis women. By the way my grandfather's name is Cunningham. I know that's an aside, but there are women within that system. As much as I'm telling you that there's racism in the system, we also know there are a great number of gender issues within that system in how women are treated and how it's managed.

Public Safety committee  I'm not an expert on first nations policing, but what we need to avoid when we're looking at alternative policing is under-resourcing. We need to ensure that they are resourced well enough to actually do their jobs. They should not just be a fraction of something else, but should actually have the authority to do their jobs and not be overseen by an authoritarian system of another police service.