Thank you, Hedy.
Thank you very much for your presentations. I'm sitting here trying to formulate a question. As you're undoubtedly aware, we've been on the road and we've heard about a number of situations, much of what you've identified here today--lack of resources, lack of staff, the need for more help.
One of the things I'm struck by, listening to you, and maybe I'm missing something, is that there seems to be a community willingness to coordinate, to plan, to work together that we haven't found in quite the same way in many other communities. In fact, in some it's been quite the opposite and quite disastrous.
The other thing, as I'm listening to you, is that you all represent service delivery organizations, and you talk about.... One of you, and I think it was Lyda, made the comment that it's important that our clients be respected and listened to.
It was you, Sheila? I'm sorry.
One of the things we've heard on our travels is that aboriginal women particularly do not feel respected, do not feel listened to, do not feel valued by the communities, and are frequently marginalized and treated in a very disrespectful way.
We're just getting a half-an-hour view from five of you sitting here, but I guess I'd like to know a little more about the dynamics. If I'm right in saying that you are working together, recognizing that your problems are not insignificant but that you're making a coordinated effort to address them, what's making that possible--if I'm right?