Tansi, boozhoo.
That is a really tough question. It's not easy to answer that.
Locally, in Vancouver, we have been calling for the government to begin the work of reconciliation by doing audits of systemic barriers to see what policies and laws exist that pose discrimination or systemic discrimination for indigenous people.
On the one hand, when government is doing reconciliation pieces, we're finding, locally here, that often government departments are working toward places where they're taking urban indigenous people and lumping them into an equity policy. We find that somewhat disrespectful, with respect to the unique and distinct history of indigenous people in this country, to find ourselves being assimilated into another process of equality, and assimilating us through equity provisions.
I don't know if that answers your question, but we need to do more nationally in this country to assess all of the rules, policies and laws that create systemic barriers for our people. That, I don't believe, has been done.
Hopefully, with Bill C-15 and the new issues with respect to UNDRIP, we will find ways to weed through those policies and become more effective with the work that we're doing nationally.
