I would like to add two points. I think education is one way to break these cycles. There are different ways, and there isn't one thing that is going to do it. Continuity of services will make that difference, because it isn't just one issue. It is not just housing or lack of jobs; it's everything.
In Winnipeg, one in five children in the areas we work in completes high school. That's significant. We know that those children will go from dropping out of schools into the criminal justice system. There's a trajectory that we can see happening. We can see it taking place.
The City of Winnipeg engaged in a process in the last couple of years around crime prevention. One of the suggestions that came out of that was an aboriginal school division. We have a small aboriginal-identified school that is part of a larger Winnipeg school division system, and it is extremely successful in graduating healthy kids. It was showcased in Maclean's magazine as one of the best schools in Canada. Why can't we make that a bigger operation?
I believe it's not about what the program is; it's about who's running the program. If aboriginal children see aboriginal people working, being healthy, being engaged, and being successful, they're going to emulate that behaviour. But if they only see us as being weak, insignificant, and not engaged, and see all other cultural groups providing services for us, then that's what they're going to see. So it's about who does the program, not about the program.
I know those are the key concepts, and those are the messages we need to send today.