One of the things that has been working well for me is relationship building in terms of the work we do with the residential school survivors program. We attended an Indian residential schools front-line workers conference. It was for front-line workers who are working with survivors. A number of us were there from P.E.I., so we decided what we can do in P.E.I.
What we came up with was that we can create a working group that can address many of the impacts that survivors will be faced with, knowing they have different needs. Some might have violence concerns, some might have financial concerns, different areas that needed to be looked at.
We do have the police involved--not just the RCMP, but the city police as well, because of the urban population. We have the Native Women's Association at the table, we have the Native Council at the table, and we're also at the table. Because we have a program, we administer the operations of the committee, so we often develop a work plan together, because we're all coming from different perspectives, right?
This is working. We're still in operation. We're making progress. We're developing a resource guide for front-line workers that they would use as a guide for any survivors who might come looking for assistance. And I think that concept can be used in other areas--violence against aboriginal women, it can fit anywhere. It's all about relationship building, taking a look at the gaps we're faced with. We can have a frank discussion with the RCMP and tell them what's happening in our community. What can you do for us, or what can we do together?
So we worked on some projects. We did cultural awareness training with the RCMP. We designed it so they could understand the impacts aboriginal people are facing within the community. We find it's working really well. It's sometimes slow progress, but we are getting some work done.
It's a proactive group, and it's being inclusive to different groups. I think that's one area of a successful model.