No, they will have the last five minutes. I'll just try to introduce the....
I'm so impressed by your eloquence and your wisdom, and mostly by your patience and perseverance. I want to thank you. You are three incredible women, and all the women behind you are as well. You have continued to persevere in trying to be a partner in this.
I've listened to a lot of what you said between the lines, and I think the really important lesson for this committee or task group—whatever it's called—is how you will be made partners.
I throw out to you and to the committee the suggestion to think about a process that I was fortunate to be a part of in Alberta, before I was elected. It has nothing to do with this, but I was involved with the Clean Air Strategic Alliance. It operates by consensus. It is co-chaired by a senior representative from industry, a representative from the public, and a senior representative from government. It includes at the table federal and provincial government representatives, first nations, Métis, and public representatives. Every report and every decision is made by consensus.
I thought I would mention that idea; it might be nice to try a different model.
One thing that might be important is the protocols for hearing testimony, particularly from the families. You might want to speak to that. It appears to me that families of victims may be more comfortable sharing their stories if you are here as the representatives of aboriginal peoples.
Although I think the first important discussion is about how this discussion is going to proceed, a subject on which you have shared many valuable ideas, there is one topic I want to throw out to you, given the topic we are supposed to be talking about.
I'm sitting in for Niki Ashton, so I went through the previous proceedings. In all the discussions, there has not been any discussion about the perpetrators of the violence. I founded a rape crisis centre in Edmonton and wrote and talked a lot about the myth that it's the bogeyman in the bushes. It's often the woman's partner, friend, date, or anybody. I'm particularly troubled because from what I have learned from your stories, a good number of the perpetrators are not aboriginal people.
Also, the direction given to the residential schools commission was to go out and educate everybody on what happened and about the role we have to play to address it.
I would really like to hear from you, or even have your feedback, if you think that this would also be an important aspect of the work to be looked at. We can't solve this if we simply do a thousand and one initiatives for the women and girls who are victims of this violence and then not also work on the other side, that long-standing legacy of a bad attitude towards aboriginal women and girls.