Currently, under the Indian Act, women—indigenous people—can't borrow against the equity in their homes. We can't leverage any property that's held by a status Indian on Indian reserve land. Until we find a mechanism to enable credit for indigenous people who are living on Indian reserve land, that's going to continue to be a problem. Canada is one of the few countries that have this kind of Indian Act that prevents the social and economic empowerment of indigenous people.
Until we've found effective ways to address that, while also protecting the unique rights of indigenous people, the unique relationship to the land.... It's an incredibly complicated question, but this is certainly a barrier to indigenous people, and indigenous women in particular, being able to find that entrepreneurial aspect in who they want to be.
I don't know that I have solutions, except that they have to be intentional and well thought out. It extends to indigenous nations and communities as well not being able to borrow against their assets. There are things like the indigenous loan guarantee program that's being talked about right now, which is an incredibly positive opportunity for indigenous participation in large-scale infrastructure projects. Something like that at an entrepreneurial level would be incredibly beneficial.
Thank you.