Those are very good questions.
I'll start with the police piece first. I think to a large degree what's happening is there's a lack of awareness and knowledge about the aboriginal situation in Canada to begin with. All recruits coming out of the Regina training centre.... I know for a fact there's very limited sensitivity training in terms of aboriginal people--historical perspectives--in order to increase their awareness and understanding of the people they're typically dealing with. There needs to be more focus on the recruits, and then an extension of that would be refresher courses for the guys who are out in the field.
I think education and awareness is a huge piece, as far as the RCMP goes, to better the relationship between aboriginal people and the RCMP. That relationship goes back 130 years or so. I think there are a lot of barriers that need to be dealt with.
In terms of the economic issue, as I said in my presentation, the Assembly of First Nations is currently challenging the federal government to end poverty. I haven't had a chance to look in detail at their plan, but I think there needs to be a national strategy to end poverty that focuses specifically on aboriginal people in Canada. That would be several-tiered, I'm sure--everything from economic opportunities, to education opportunities, to issues in communities, and looking at the reasons why women in particular are leaving their home territories in search of a better life in urban centres and ending up in similar situations in an urban setting, where they're not able to access housing, they're not able to feed their children and keep a roof over their heads; they're ending up in situations where they're forced into living high-risk lifestyles.
I think the poverty piece is fundamental.