We spend a significant amount of time talking about where moneys need to be allocated. Each group at the table brings such diverse yet common challenges and experiences to the table. For all of us, particularly for first nations and Inuit, we talk about on reserve and off reserve. We talk about northern communities versus the southern communities, and the commonalities and the differences that are there.
I'm reflecting back on a story that one of my co-workers was telling me today. A personal acquaintance of hers was recently, within the last couple of weeks, murdered by her spouse, and he in turn committed suicide. There are people in the urban settings who have plights equally as horrendous as those of people living in the remote communities, on the reserves, in northern or more removed communities. How many of those people are going unaccounted for?
I think, Ms. Demers, you bring up a valuable point, and I think it ties into our lack of ability to get reliable numbers and statistics. There's still a stigma attached to identifying as being first nations, Métis, or Inuit. Clearly that was the case in the 2006 aboriginal peoples study done by Statistics Canada, because even today, in 2010, we're still dealing with the stigmas attached to being aboriginal.
I think we've come a long way, but we've still got a very long way to go, particularly for the Inuit people in the north. We often forget that they were as equally impacted by the residential schools as were the first nations and the Métis people.