Status of Women committee  I guess the question is what we're talking about when we say poverty and being poor. I would tell you that the elders in my community would say they are not poor. They would say they are rich in their language, rich in their traditions, rich in the relationship they have with the

Status of Women committee  In the sense of being prepared for the presentation, the question that was asked was on economic security for senior years. The work we have been doing specifically for what we've called the AHRDA, the aboriginal human resources development agreement is about some agreements that

Status of Women committee  Okay, I'm finished.

Status of Women committee  No, we didn't.

Status of Women committee  Sure. Good afternoon. I'm still catching my breath.

Status of Women committee  Thank you for that. I think one of the issues we have been saying loud and clear is about human rights violations. That's the basis of everything we're having to address in our communities. I do feel it's important that action has to occur now. There are enough reports, discussi

Status of Women committee  I think if we're talking about interim legislation, it has to be federal. And if there is a process, we don't want the process to occur like the First Nations Governance Act did, where it was implemented on its own, without consultation. That's what we're talking about. We do w

Status of Women committee  I receive phone calls from women in communities who have been assaulted by chiefs, by councillors. That is huge. We're talking about remote communities, where they have nowhere to go. That's the power and control I was talking about. Safety mechanisms, when we're addressing these

Status of Women committee  What we have proposed in our meetings is that in order for us to move forward on this, there is a recognition of both organizations and who we represent. What assists in our collaboration is the fact that we're willing to come up with solutions. The Assembly of First Nations repr

Status of Women committee  I don't think that's an easy question to answer, unless we're to do a survey of each of our first nations. I know that Bob and Debra can explain that from the AFN perspective and that the chiefs in their communities can address that, but I know what the women are saying.

Status of Women committee  With respect to the issues with the Indian Act, we're dealing with a history of patriarchy and colonization. It is one of the most colonial and racist pieces of legislation that exists in the world. Because of how it was enacted and created, with its power and control over indige

Status of Women committee  I just want to say that the joint steering committee doesn't involve the Native Women's Association of Canada.

Status of Women committee  No.

Status of Women committee  So that's an issue for us. The issues that we are addressing are financial issues. We are a very underfunded national organization. We've continued to say that very consistently over many years. Because we represent aboriginal women across the country, we have 13 provincial-t

Status of Women committee  With respect to section 67 and its repeal, we did submit a consultation process as well, in developing a national think tank. The think tank is also to come up with a participatory community engagement consultation process. In order to deal with human rights violations as a resul