Evidence of meeting #8 for Special Committee on Indigenous Women in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was women.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Therapist and Community Outreach Coordinator, PACE Sexual Assault and Crisis Centre
You bet it is.
Therapist and Community Outreach Coordinator, PACE Sexual Assault and Crisis Centre
Through advertising, e-mails, technology, and Facebook—any way we can.
Conservative
Susan Truppe Conservative London North Centre, ON
So they just take on this leadership role on their own as a volunteer?
Therapist and Community Outreach Coordinator, PACE Sexual Assault and Crisis Centre
Some people naturally take that on. Sometimes you have to say to them that you see something really great in them and you think this training would be fantastic for them. As you know, there are wounded people in your communities who have that natural helping link inside of them, so you just say, “Here, come.” While they're there, they're also healing their own wounds and they're becoming healers themselves.
Conservative
Susan Truppe Conservative London North Centre, ON
You also mentioned that when you don't have funding, you find funding. How do you find funding?
Therapist and Community Outreach Coordinator, PACE Sexual Assault and Crisis Centre
We have a woman who works for us who is the brains of finding funding. Jacquie is....
Coordinator, Caribou Child and Youth Centre
Our executive director is really good at writing a funding proposal. She's out there writing them all the time, trying to get whatever she can to sustain any programming we have.
Therapist and Community Outreach Coordinator, PACE Sexual Assault and Crisis Centre
Another thing is that Jamie came back from a workshop recently. She told me about the percentage of people who write funding proposals and who actually get one. How many...?
Coordinator, Caribou Child and Youth Centre
Only 17% of those who submit a first-time funding proposal are funded. It's not a huge amount.
Conservative
Susan Truppe Conservative London North Centre, ON
Right. Thank you.
You also said that if you decreased the resilience factors, the community would be better. Can you give me some examples?
Therapist and Community Outreach Coordinator, PACE Sexual Assault and Crisis Centre
Of increasing resiliency within a community?
Conservative
Therapist and Community Outreach Coordinator, PACE Sexual Assault and Crisis Centre
If you decrease vulnerability and increase resiliency—
Conservative
Therapist and Community Outreach Coordinator, PACE Sexual Assault and Crisis Centre
Of increasing resiliency? Community centres, cultural events, training, and opportunities like education, sports, and cadets—there's a multitude of different things people can join that increase friendships and decrease isolation. There are so many. The list goes on.
Conservative
Susan Truppe Conservative London North Centre, ON
Thank you.
I want to say before I move to my next question that you are right when you say we need to be doing something with men as well, so that they can let other men know that it is not right to do what they do. Status of Women has funded a program similar to that with the don't be a bystander program. I really love that program. It's in B.C. It involves the B.C. Lions going to 40 schools. At least it's a start, where they're engaging young boys.
My next question is for the RCMP. I probably don't have a lot of time.
I think you mentioned—I'm not sure who it was—that you implemented some policies in regard to the murdered and missing aboriginal women. Could you elaborate on a couple of the policies that you've implemented since then that would be helping?
A/Commr Kevin Brosseau
Yes, certainly we have a national policy to deal with missing persons. Historically, I think, there was a mindset that if someone's not missing for 24 hours, don't call us. That is in fact not the case.
The national policy directs that all missing persons complaints calls are treated as a priority investigation and will be addressed as such, with accountabilities throughout the process, including supervisors and managers in that accounting, which is significant. This means that immediately, no matter what, if a young person lives in a group home or whatever, the disappearance is treated seriously. We get a number of those. Of course, the large majority of them are found very soon or shortly after they were reported missing.
That's I think the key policy piece from a missing persons perspective. That has been rolled out into each division—we call our provinces and territories “divisions”—and localized into policy as well, so that senior officers review and are briefed on every missing persons complaint. When foul play is suspected, the investigative team is mustered immediately, including serious crime and major crime investigators, who of course are very seasoned and have the experience to be able to deal with this. One of the previous witnesses spoke about those critical early hours, and that is absolutely the case in policing.
Conservative
Susan Truppe Conservative London North Centre, ON
Great. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Stella Ambler
Thank you, Ms. Truppe.
Thanks to all of you for being here today. We very much appreciate your perspective and your being here to talk to us about this very important matter.
Again, thank you very much. I declare the meeting adjourned.