I'd like to call the meeting to order.
I want to welcome the witnesses, who have come out on a freezing day. It is cold out there, so thank you for coming.
I want to just tell you that pursuant to what is known as a standing order, in this case Standing Order 108(2), this committee on the status of women is studying violence against aboriginal women: the root causes of that violence, the nature of the violence, and the different types and extent of the violence, whether it is domestic, societal, psychological, sexual, etc. We're looking at the whole breadth and depth of violence against aboriginal women in all of its forms, and of course the root causes.
Definitely we hope that aboriginal communities will be able to furnish us with some solutions, because it seems to the committee that we have done this, that we have been addressing this thing, for years and years, and we don't seem to be getting a lot of positive outcomes. We're very well aware of the work done by Sisters in Spirit. We feel that it has furnished us with a fair amount of background, but we wanted to talk to women and visit the country.
Now, does anyone know where Marlene Bear is, and if she is coming? No? Then we'll begin with the five groups here, and if Marlene comes in, we will add her.
To let you know what we usually do here, you give us a presentation of anywhere between five and seven minutes. I will give you a two-minute signal and then a one-minute signal so that you know when you should wrap up. At the end of that, we will open it up to questions from members of the committee.
A standing committee, as you know, is made up of all parties in the House. We do have members here from the Conservatives, the NDP, the Bloc Québécois, and the Liberals. Therefore, we will be asking you questions in a particular rotation.
I'd like to begin with the representative from the Prince Albert Métis Women's Association, Lisa Cook, urban aboriginal coordinator.
Lisa, could you begin?