I wanted to say that for us, at NWAC, we get calls weekly, as recently as within the last two weeks, from aboriginal women who are victims of violence who have called 911 and been told.... In particular, a woman was attacked in her neighbourhood, remembered that the inside door was unlocked, made her way inside after fighting her attacker off, and called 911 when she got in. She was told that she was safe in her apartment now, that she probably got the better of him, and that if she continued calling—she had called twice previously in prior weeks about women who were being beaten in their apartments by their boyfriends, because she lives in a low-income, rougher neighbourhood—she would be charged with obstructing justice and complaining, and the misuse of 911 calls. And she had been physically assaulted and struck on the head five times.
It's really difficult for me to hear everything on paper of what it's like and how great the relationships are for victims, but for aboriginal victims this is simply not the case. I totally would never want to compare victims, but in the same summer that Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy went missing, five aboriginal women were brutally murdered by a serial killer, and Canadians had no outrage or knowledge of it whatsoever.
So it's a completely different story when we're talking about aboriginal victims of violence. We have a long way to go, and I really hope this legislation is not just another piece of paper that the government can point to and say it's doing something about victimization. We really need to translate that into action. We're always talking about taking action. I do want to see action. I want to see results, and I want to see measured, concrete steps of how it's actually going to impact the lives of aboriginal women victims, so that we don't have to keep coming here. I'm getting to know you guys far too well.