It was part of why I mentioned in the context of an inquiry why that can be valuable, because many of the groups that have historically existed, including one that I mentioned, the Aboriginal Women's Action Network, don't have resources. Most of the groups that have been doing equality work in this country, particularly women's groups, have been literally wiped out in terms of being able to continue to do that work.
We have worked together for at least three decades with the Native Women's Association of Canada, and they are stretched to the limit. We are stretched to the limit. What brought it home all the more—not exactly on this issue, but it's very much linked—was the fact that 91% of indigenous women who are federally sentenced have histories of violence, have histories of physical and sexual abuse. It's not accidental that they end up in the system, because there aren't resources to support them.
Neither is it accidental that they are not believed. Take the Jamie Gladue decision: every witness who was aboriginal at her preliminary inquiry was first asked what beer they drank.
The assumptions and the racist attitudes towards particularly women in this context are real. I mean, part of the reason I knew the women whose remains were found at the Pickton farm was that people didn't believe they were really missing initially. You also heard the stories that Meghan talked about when she was presenting earlier. That's a very common theme.
The examples I was trying to conjure up here were not just of the more recent cases here in the south, but also in the north. Sue has talked about a number of women I know whose cases were thrown out, including people who were victimized by people who are now well recognized as multiple predators. It was presumed that because they were drinking, or because they had been on the street, they were easy prey, and it was fair game that they be attacked.
The resources of the state are limitless to deny responsibility and to defend against indefensible actions. While it's not directly on this point, I think it's linked that every time we try to raise an issue around these sorts of things, we're met with the phalanx of lawyers that are the Department of Justice.
As an example, we just went through the Ashley Smith inquest. We're about to start into another inquest of a woman who was also sexually exploited and was missing for a period of time. When her family found her—they found her because she was in prison—she'd been in not safe conditions before that. She died a year ago, and we're about to start into that inquest.
This is at a time when we know—it's just been revealed through an access request by a media person—that $5 million was spent by the government on the Ashley Smith inquest by just the Correctional Service of Canada.
I just think the resources are limitless to defend against indefensible actions. I think if we really want proactive action, we need to put the resources into some of the things that will prevent people from being victimized, that will support them once they are, and that will prevent them from being criminalized as well, particularly indigenous people, because they're more likely to end up being.... The only system that can't say no to them is the current justice and prison system.