I'd like to thank Ms. Dumont-Smith and Ms. Blackstock for their presentations today. I certainly think I can speak on behalf of my colleagues in saying that it takes a lot of courage to say what you have brought forward today. It takes courage to do the work that you do. You are standing up and pointing to the gaps within the federal government and at the way the federal government has ignored the voices of first nations in so many cases. I certainly know it from having the honour of representing the first nations in northern Manitoba.
Ms. Blackstock, you referred to there being thousands of Shannen Koostachins in Canada. While I am honoured to think that I represent some of these dynamic young women in my part of the country, where I come from, you are absolutely right in saying that we must act now to prevent the kind of future that, in many cases, their mothers and grandmothers have faced. I thank you for the presentation you made and the sentiments you expressed.
Ms. Dumont-Smith, I want to hear from you with respect to today's study. In recent weeks, we found out about the cuts to the Native Women's Association of Canada. Could you explain to us what programs will be cut and what kind of impact this will have on the well-being of aboriginal girls?