Status of Women committee  Thank you for your question. NWAC would like to see an amendment to subsection 515(4) that provides judicial decision-makers with the option to consult with indigenous governing bodies when they're dealing with an indigenous accused or victim.

Status of Women committee  In terms of education, one thing I want to raise that hasn't been raised today—I think it answers your question—is how proceedings in the criminal court are “R. v.”—it's “the Crown versus”, not “the victim versus”. One thing this bill does that we haven't seen frequently enough i

Status of Women committee  Thank you for the question. My answer relies on the lens of the UNDRIP. What that obligates legislators to do is craft legislation that takes into consideration indigenous peoples' rights. Under article 22 of that international human rights treaty and domestic legislation, there

Status of Women committee  No. I understand that there's not an UNDRIP lens through which each bill is being examined, the same way that it's done for the charter and for gender-based analysis. We suggest that in the near future—and why not now?—we begin by making sure that all legislation passed aligns

Status of Women committee  Thank you. I'm going to lean on two truths that we hold to be true: One is that disproportionately, indigenous women are victims of domestic and intimate partner violence, and that indigenous women are overincarcerated in our federal prisons. NWAC's position on Bill S-205, to

Status of Women committee  Thank you for your question. Our suggestions to the text of this bill to improve it for indigenous women are to make an amendment by adding a condition at proposed subsection 515(4), providing courts with the option to look to indigenous governing bodies that have authority to g

Status of Women committee  Thank you. A lot of the data and research that my response relies upon is contained within the volumes of the final report of the national inquiry into MMIWG. Those tell us the specific answers that inform indigenous women's experiences. In terms of their disproportionate repre

Status of Women committee  It's our understanding that NWAC was invited here today so that this committee could hear the perspectives of the disproportionately impacted indigenous women. If you want to hear how this bill will impact indigenous women, then my comments are that they won't be able to access i

Status of Women committee  I have a nuanced answer.

Status of Women committee  Alleviating some of the economic strife that is experienced predominantly by indigenous women and victims of gender-based violence and domestic violence is one key tool for reducing and eliminating gender-based violence. However, it isn't the only tool, so it needs to work in con

Status of Women committee  NWAC honours that this bill gives victims a voice but questions whether this bill provides access to the benefits intended by this bill to indigenous women.

Status of Women committee  I'm going to defer to my colleague from LEAF. That was her point.

Status of Women committee  Hello. Bonjour. Boozhoo. Honourable committee members and Chair, thank you for inviting NWAC to bring indigenous women's voices into your study on Bill S-205 here on unceded Algonquin territory. The indigenous women, girls, two-spirit, trans and gender-diverse people NWAC rep