Thank you, Chair.
Thank you, Minister.
It was really good to be with the Canadian delegation at the United Nations last week. We heard some devastating presentations. One that I think particularly affected a lot of us, which we've been hearing testimony about at this committee, is the experience of indigenous women in the justice system and incarceration.
One of the very strong messages we've heard at committee, and it was certainly echoed at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women last week, is the problem of solitary confinement. Here's a statement by the Native Women's Association of Canada that we heard at committee, calling for a complete end to the practice of solitary confinement by any name and for any duration. The associations says:
Segregation is a particularly cruel practice for women with histories of trauma and abuse, another area in which indigenous women are overrepresented.
Along with a lot of other people, I was devastated that the federal government decided to file an appeal the BC Civil Liberties Association's win on ending indefinite solitary confinement.
I'd like to hear you, from your heart, how you feel to have our government spend our tax dollars fighting this really cruel and terrible practice. This is the appeal filing.