Thank you very much, Chair, and thank you very much to both ministers for coming here and appearing before the committee. I want to commend you for this very much-needed and long-awaited bill.
The reason we're here today is that we believe it is absolutely unacceptable that aboriginal women do not have equality with other women in this country, and I think it is important that we state that moral cause. I find it particularly shocking that the women across the table here, from the NDP and Liberals, are holding back what is a very important step for aboriginal women's rights.
I have some particular background in this because my mother started one of the first women's shelters in Alberta, and the majority of the women by far who were left destitute and homeless after spousal violence were aboriginal women. To be holding this back at this point, based on methodology and saying you want to consult with every single reserve in the country, when some 25 years have passed, $8 million has been spent, and 103 communities consulted, I find shocking.
I'd like the minister, and whoever feels they can properly address this, to respond to the following. One of the most important things we've heard today is that emergency protection orders save lives. I think we are talking lives here. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. This is, in my view, a very good single step forward, but I think we should make it clear. I'd like to hear how this bill will save lives.