Thank you, Madam Chair.
It's good to see the ministers here on such an important matter, and I guess where we would all agree is that it's well past time to deal with the issues of matrimonial real property. Where we would disagree is on the methodology.
I just want to add a bit to something the minister had said about testimony that Michèle Audette, from the Native Women's Association of Canada, provided.
She said in her testimony at the Senate that:
Once again, after everything that our sister here has been through, yes, it's a salve, but if our communities don't have the financial, human and material resources needed, it's going to be a failure. When you live far from the urban centres and you wait a long time for a sentence, a decision or some protection, you just give up and say, "What's the point in filing a complaint or reporting something?
So I want it to be clear that Madame Audette did not give unqualified support to this bill. She raised grave concerns with the ability of first nations communities to actually implement the bill.
I know you are very familiar with this process, so I would appreciate a yes or a no answer to my next question. Did either of your departments conduct a constitutional, section 35 analysis about whether this bill would infringe on aboriginal rights and title? Just yes or no would be fine.
Minister Ambrose, did Status of Women do so?