Status of Women Committee on March 1st, 2022

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

If I understand correctly, it's important to work on restoring victims' confidence so that they can report their abuser. That's what I understand.

Ms. Omeniho, you mentioned the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. We know that was very important. I'd also like to hear from you, once again, on the important recommendations of this report that we have seen and heard on several occasions. They include funding for long-term operations and culturally appropriate resources for indigenous women and girls, in urban settings as well as in communities.

Do you feel that the federal government has responded positively to this recommendation when you bring up the National Inquiry into Missing and Murder Indigenous Women and Girls?

What could be done to improve this?

[Melanie Omeniho]

We've been a very active part of the missing and murdered indigenous women and girls process and the building of the national action plan. A very hefty response was given to try to address issues for the missing and murdered indigenous women and girls, but I want to tell you that at this time, there has not been enough action to implement the recommendations that were brought forward.

There are many amazing recommendations, from trying to help with healing the families who have been impacted by the legacy of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls to recommendations around the prevention so that we can stop seeing this as a norm.

A lot of work needs to be done within the justice system to try and help our people, both as victims and as people who are a part of that criminal justice system, so they're not put in places of being vulnerable.

All of that work needs to happen now. Our sadness is that there is very little action actually happening at this time. There was a lot of energy put around this, but there has not been any follow-through.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Yes, sometimes it feels like this report has been shelved and we could look at it again and work to act on some of the recommendations that were in it.

Ms. Brass, you mentioned knowledge transfer. You talked about an intergenerational approach where elders tell teens about various experiences of violence that they have had so that the teens can learn from their mistakes and keep it from happening again, to break the cycle of violence. I think that's kind of what you're doing in your organization, but you're also making it a recommendation.

[Angela Brass]

If we could have this program run all across Canada in every major city and even in the smaller communities, I totally recommend it. It helps, right? Having that shared passed-down knowledge will hopefully help change the way things have been from the historical harms we've had to encounter as first nations people.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

What I take away from your approach is that it's based on exchanges between elders and teens about different experiences in various communities to help teens learn from those who came before them.

I will let you address another point later, because I only have five seconds left.

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Thank you very much.

We're now going to pass it over to Leah.

You have the floor for six minutes.

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Thank you so much.

It's good to see Winnipeggers here. It's nice to see you again, Madam Omeniho.

I have a very short five minutes, so I'm going to do a fast round. I want to hear from all of you because I know you're amazing.

I'll start with Madam Brass.

One thing we know about youth, and particularly indigenous youth, is that when they have a sense of identity and know who they are, it becomes a shield in the world. I know Ka Ni Kanichihk provides excellent programs for young people to really understand who they are and where they come from.

How do you think that assists with mitigating the crisis of violence?

[Angela Brass]

I think it will help a lot. We have those historical harms or blood traumas that they referred to from our past generations, which we feel as indigenous people.

Having the youth learn these traditions that we lack living here in the cities makes a huge difference. I've seen it. The confidence they have is amazing. To be a part of that and to share that knowledge with them is the most rewarding thing I have encountered so far.

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Thank you so much.

Madame Hutchinson, you're a super rock star. I know that you've done so much work, especially around the national inquiry.

We haven't touched on this before. You spoke about how Wahbung provides land-based programming. Why is land-based programming critical in terms of assisting families with healing?

[Angie Hutchinson]

Absolutely. Land-based programming is an essential part of culturally based programming. Culture is tied to the land. Language is tied to the land. Who we are as individuals is tied to the land. That opportunity, in particular for urban folks, to be able to access land-based teachings, where they haven't had the opportunity or they lack the economic ability to access land-based teachings, is critical. That is really at the root of who we are as indigenous people.

Again, it's that connection to our understanding of who we are, how we breathe and how we live. When we introduce ourselves as indigenous individuals, we will often tie ourselves to the land we come from. That's what lives in our bones and that's what lives in our blood. That's who we are as individuals. That access back to the land is restoring that sense of belonging and identity and knowing who we are as individuals.

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Thank you so much for that.

Madam Omeniho, you spoke about how you take strength-based approaches. You talked about “lateral kindness”. That really hit me, because I know that often when people talk about indigenous people, they speak of us as a deficit, from deficit perspectives, and yet we are so resilient. We are still here. We were supposed to be eradicated, but we are still here. That speaks to our strength.

I want you to speak a little bit about that.

[Melanie Omeniho]

It has always struck me that one of the things that have made us as successful as we are has been the amazing and powerful indigenous women who are around us. I had the great fortune of being raised by many of my grandmothers and aunties. They always taught us that we lift people up. We don't try to find ways to tear them down.

We've worked really hard to try to implement that, in the work that we do and in the walk that we walk. That's what's so amazing about our She is Indigenous campaign. We are a resilient lot of people. We continue to tell people that we're not the social detriment of society. We are your doctors. We are your lawyers. We are your teachers. We are your grocery store clerks. We are the people who are walking right beside you and helping to lift up and support our country. We need to be treated with those values and that respect.

That's why we do strength-based work. We do a lot to try to lift up and hold up women all over the place. There are a number of indigenous professors who are working throughout our universities in this country, and they need to be recognized and acknowledged for all the things they bring.

We are not a deficit. We are not to be seen as anything lesser than anybody else.

I really appreciate the question. It's really good to see you again too.

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Yes. For sure.

Just quickly, Madam Brass or Madam Hutchinson, you talked about kinship ties. Can you expand on that? What do kinship ties look like?

[Angie Hutchinson]

I can speak to that very quickly.

When we talk about the disruption of community, the disruption of a sense of place, that is that sense of kinship. Who we are and where we come from leads us to know where we're going. That kinship tie is really understanding self, it's understanding family, it's understanding community and it's understanding nations.

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Thank you so much.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

That's awesome. Thank you so much.

We're about to start our second round. We don't have a lot of time, so it will be the Liberals for three minutes, Conservatives for three minutes, and the NDP and Bloc 90 for seconds each.

You have three minutes, Michelle.

[Michelle Ferreri, Conservative, Peterborough—Kawartha, ON]

Thank you.

Thank you so much to all of the witnesses. It's nice to hear about all of the work that's being done. I loved hearing from Melanie about how you're involving men, which I think is critical, and from Angie about children being a key component.

I'd like to go to Angela Brass to start.

I love your enthusiasm and optimism and passion for what you've been able to accomplish. When we talk about systemic trauma and multi-generations and how long it takes to see real change, you've worked with kids from age nine up to 27. Do you have any success stories that you can speak to of kids who've broken generational trauma?

[Angela Brass]

I think right now what I could just really speak to is something that's very fresh and very current that happened last week with some of the young adults who were 17 and 18. They came back the next week—because it's a 12-week course that we run with them—and actually said they had started talking to their partners, apologizing for the way they'd treated them and were trying to discuss ways, which they learned from the UMatter program, on how to better their relationships. That was the biggest reward I think I could have right now or that we could have as a program.

[Michelle Ferreri, Conservative, Peterborough—Kawartha, ON]

That's fantastic. You don't know what you don't know, right? So to change that trajectory is absolutely phenomenal.

I'd like to talk a little bit more, Angela, about what you're doing in social media. I'm very interested in this because I think it's one of the biggest challenges. We heard from Melanie about this, too—if Melanie wants to touch on this—about a lot of the media that is consumed by youth and adults that portray toxic images or thoughts. How are you using social media in a positive way to connect and educate teens and youth about healthy relationships?

[Angela Brass]

I think right now the kids are so tech savvy, they teach us all of the positive ways and they also know the negative ways of social media. From the earliest age of nine up to, like I said earlier, the later stages in their early twenties [Technical difficulty—Editor].

What have we done? It's just that we've used these as examples so far of how we see a lot of the negatives that we've become desensitized to, and that we have to start [Technical difficulty—Editor] to go forward in a positive.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Your time is up. Thanks very much.

Those last few words we did miss, Ms. Brass. Could you just say that last sentence again? I'm sure you don't have it directly in your head. No, you're thinking you're not sure what that last sentence was? We were talking about the negatives on social media. That was the part—

Did you get what you needed?

[Michelle Ferreri, Conservative, Peterborough—Kawartha, ON]

I think so. I didn't hear exactly, but I think I got it.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Okay. We're going to move over to Emmanuella for three minutes.

[Emmanuella Lambropoulos, Liberal, Saint-Laurent, QC]

Thank you very much to all of our witnesses for being here with us today.

My question is for Ms. Brass. I only have three minutes, so I'm probably limited in how many questions I can ask, but basically I'm interested in the UMatter program.

I know that you guys go into schools and do after-school programs. You said that you're in Winnipeg, I believe, so I guess there are many indigenous students attending the same schools and you can offer those types of programs. What about for kids who are in different cities and are more spread out and attending regular schools? What would you recommend for kids like that, who could benefit from these types of programs, and how can the government help support that?

[Angela Brass]

One of the key things about the UMatter program is that when we go to do these presentations, we're not only presenting to the youth, but also to the adults in charge of these different programs or these different classes for them to observe what they're doing so that in the future, they can continue bringing teen dating violence awareness to the youth.

Will we have an opportunity to reach out to rural communities? Yes, I am hoping to do so and now with some of these restrictions being lifted with the COVID, I'm really hoping to get out there and bring more awareness to everybody.