I would just like to take the opportunity to address the issue of funding. It is a serious concern for the Métis National Council. Just for the record, currently there is no federal funding dedicated for Métis women.
We don't have the burden of producing reports. That is one good side of it. But it is a serious matter, and the Métis community feels very much that it has a lot of catching up to do.
We do support initiatives like the Sisters In Spirit campaign for raising awareness. This is just very broad awareness. There is still the issue of the lack of disaggregated data. That's very important. The Métis community, the Métis women and children, do not know precisely the extent or nature of violence against Métis women. That's a major issue. Once that is understood--we're even far from being at that place, unfortunately--there will be resources required to do something about it.
Certainly no action can be taken effectively without engaging Métis women and communities. We're a little bit far away from that, but there are some fundamental issues around accessing core funding, from the Métis National Council's perspective.