Angie is nodding. I would like to hear from her.
Evidence of meeting #45 for Status of Women in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was family.
Evidence of meeting #45 for Status of Women in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was family.
1:40 p.m.
NDP
1:40 p.m.
Community Development Worker, ISKWEW Women Helping Women Co-operative Health Centre
Thank you so much.
The one thing I have a really hard time with when I'm working with the women is they come in, they tell their story, and they talk about how they reported domestic violence. When they begin to report domestic violence it goes on a police record and the crisis centre is called. Maybe they leave their partner, go into the shelter, and then they reconcile sometime later, or the partner keeps stalking and stalking and they feel like they can't get away from them. Maybe there's a whole issue with family. The abuser ends up coming back in the home and then the children are apprehended. It further abuses the women.
So that policy needs to change. There needs to be something different with the abuser. If he's continually going back into that home, it shouldn't be the children who are being removed from the mother and being put into the system and everyone being further victimized. It should be the person who's doing the abuse. Why does he always get off the hook? He then goes into another relationship and then that family is put into turmoil. It keeps perpetuating itself. You have this one abuser and maybe he has three or four families he's been involved in and there's been abuse in those families.
1:40 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
Angie, I think we're going to have to move on. Thank you.
Now we'll go to the second round, and it's five minutes. Everyone is going to have to be far more concise if you are going to get enough questions and answers in.
I'm going to go again to Ms. Neville for the Liberals.
1:40 p.m.
Liberal
Anita Neville Liberal Winnipeg South Centre, MB
I don't know whether I can be concise, but I'll try.
I'm listening carefully, and the whole issue of child apprehension and the impact of domestic violence has really been at the forefront today. I think it gives us a lot to think about.
We're here as part of a federal government committee to look at what we can recommend to government to address the issue of domestic violence. You're all undoubtedly aware of the jurisdictional issues: the province has responsibility for some things; the feds have responsibility for others.
I would like your thoughts or recommendations as to what we can recommend to the federal government that would make a difference in the lives of those people who are victims of violence.
I am going on too long.
You've certainly talked about the intergenerational and the colonialized aspects of it, but what is happening today that could be changed by the federal government that would perhaps not eliminate but alleviate domestic violence, or violence against women, however it's manifested?
1:40 p.m.
Chair, Women's Commission of the Prince Albert Grand Council
Okay.
Recommendations to the government.... I think right now for first nations the government has a band-aid effect. They give a little bit of money for a program; you just get a program going and the money runs out. At different times we have had different people employed in different areas, and the money will maybe go on for one year or it may go for five, but the funding is never continuous, and it needs to be.
As I said, if you look at the budget of the Department of Indian Affairs, we do not get hardly any money for counselling. Social services on reserve means handing out a welfare cheque, but there's nothing that comes with that cheque to provide services to the individual. It's a place where they go and get their food allowance, their housing allowance, and that's it. Nothing else comes with that cheque, not even in terms of our social workers being trained for counselling. So where does an individual go? They go to the band office and pick up the cheque. Sometimes health centres have some counselling available, but there too, if you look at budgets within health...as the health director, I am aware of this. I've been health director for a number of years in Montreal Lake, and not much money comes for counselling. We talk about our child and family services agents. There's too much focus on child apprehension without the counselling to the families. It's a cycle that needs to be changed in all areas of our communities, right from social assistance to health, to child family agencies, to the RCMP for the support they should be providing these families.
1:45 p.m.
Liberal
1:45 p.m.
Liberal
Anita Neville Liberal Winnipeg South Centre, MB
I'm just going to come back on this one. Does anyone have any concrete recommendations that we can put forward?
I certainly heard your comments, Shirley. You spoke earlier about shelter support. I agree that's important, but that's at the other end. That's dealing with the symptoms, not the causes. I'm trying to determine what we can do to eliminate the causes of domestic violence.
1:45 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
We're going to have to wait for that answer to come, because Cathy asked for it originally too--prevention. What are the preventative measures that can be taken?
Having said that, it gives me an intro into Cathy's time now.
1:45 p.m.
Conservative
Cathy McLeod Conservative Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC
I will ultimately go to prevention, but quickly...we had talked about some of the challenges that police services have. Unfortunately, they're not at the table, but I think it was Wanda who was saying that you've had significant success compared to other provinces in terms of solving cases. Is that what you said? Did you say that we could learn from what Saskatchewan was doing right?
1:45 p.m.
Conservative
Cathy McLeod Conservative Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC
Any idea of what is happening right there...? Would we have to perhaps pursue it through other panels?
1:45 p.m.
Treasurer, Saskatchewan Aboriginal Women's Circle Corporation
You would have to pursue it through other panels.
1:45 p.m.
Conservative
Cathy McLeod Conservative Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC
Okay, but there's something significant there that has created a much better resolution rate. I think it's something that we do need to explore in terms of what's happening there.
Having had that quick question, I'll go to prevention. Angie did start to talk about it.
Your program seems like it would support prevention to some degree.
1:45 p.m.
Community Development Worker, ISKWEW Women Helping Women Co-operative Health Centre
Going back, could I talk a little bit about the police service? I believe that's part of the prevention portion.
1:45 p.m.
Community Development Worker, ISKWEW Women Helping Women Co-operative Health Centre
In my experience with the police service in Prince Albert, I've done a number of things. When I worked for the grand council I used to do the memorial walk; we honoured our brothers and sisters who were missing and murdered. Through that, I got to know the police service very well. We also do a rally in Prince Albert for a violence-free city, in which we honour our police services that we work with in Prince Albert.
I think we're in a really unique situation. For the first time now, I've been asked by one of the police officers to assist them on a domestic violence call. That's never happened, to my knowledge, and I'm really excited to see that they're working with community agencies in developing it.
I've also been in contact with Constable Matthew Gray, who's developing programs and wants to work with community organizations. Yes, you can honestly say that there have been some real problems with working with police services in the past, but I believe those bridges are now being mended and people are really trying hard to work with our first nations communities. I feel very respected when I work with them. I work with victim services and I work with a lot of those community agencies, so I'd like to speak to that.
As well, in some of the programs they're developing, they are trying to work with the missing and murdered women programs. I was invited to sit on a cold case file unit with them. I think the officer, Rhonda Meakin, has moved on since then. But always, the new person, the new officers, because officers get dispersed around the community quite a bit into various communities.... There's always somebody new that we need to work with and they always make that connection, so I really want to say that there's been a really good effort by the police service in Prince Albert to make that connection with community services. I think they're really trying hard to develop good programs.
We're working together at developing them. We're actually going to be setting up a committee that's going to address it and talk about it first-hand, and it's the police officers themselves who are setting that up and inviting people from the community to do this. I hope everyone participates in that when they do, because I think that's a preventative tool.
1:50 p.m.
Conservative
Cathy McLeod Conservative Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC
That's great.
I'm not sure if Wanda might be able to focus in on this. The northern and isolated communities have their own particular challenges. If a woman is a victim of serious abuse within her home--and we've heard that the options in Prince Albert are somewhat limited--are there any solutions you would see that would allow the woman to stay in her own community in safety, solutions that aren't happening right now?
1:50 p.m.
Liberal
1:50 p.m.
Chair, Women's Commission of the Prince Albert Grand Council
Yes, definitely, the service in the community...if it was there, I know the ladies would attend. But because of the distance to travel into the city and to try to accommodate their children--they don't want to leave their children behind. If we could have more services within the community, it would be a lot better for all of the family--for the husband, the wife, and the children. We need those right in our communities. Prince Albert is a long way away from Black Lake.
1:50 p.m.
Conservative
Cathy McLeod Conservative Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC
Is there any travelling support right now at all?