As has already been discussed by the other women on this panel, who have done incredible work in their own right in their own communities both individually and within organizations, we could go back to some of the very basic recommendations of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples that have not even been touched. When we talk about social justice and equality, particularly for indigenous women, we have women living in what the United Nations has recognized as conditions lower than those in most developing countries, in particular women and children on reserves in this country. Those are some of the places where we can work to try to address the issue.
Once they're in prison, it's part of my job, and the responsibility of the organization I have the privilege and responsibility of working with and for, to try to get those women out, but it's almost “too little, too late” by then, because there are virtually no programs. Most of the women, because of the way their offences are categorized, never get access to those programs. Most of them are characterized as higher security. Right now, all of the women who are classified as the highest security are indigenous women. All of them have mental health issues, all of them are locked in isolation, and all of them have virtually no access to programs and services right now.