Absolutely.
There are a number of unique barriers to indigenous women, status Indian women, living on the Indian reserves across Canada. There is an inability to leverage the equity in our assets, like our homes, in order to get loans to participate in the economy. That's a huge barrier. We can't get a mortgage on Indian reserve land without permission from the Minister of Indigenous Services. It really limits our ability to explore options that other women in Canada have the opportunity to pursue. It limits our ability to invest capital in something that can give back. In terms of looking at systemic barriers to women participating in the economy, I think that's a very significant one.
However, we are facing a good benefit. We have an opportunity in child care that is available in our community to status women. Child care is at no cost, and we've seen the benefits of that no-cost child care in our community in allowing women to go out and participate in the economy. However, it's only as employees, not as entrepreneurs, as much as it would be beneficial to see that.
There are a number of issues that indigenous communities face under the Indian Act, and the more we see off-ramps without wholesale removal of the provisions that also protect our communities and our people, the more we're going to start moving in the right direction.
Hopefully that answers your question. Thank you.