Mr. Chair, it is true that violence toward women, aboriginal women in particular, remains a very present and very pressing problem.
My colleague has referred to the conference of ministers. I would like to congratulate her on chairing the Standing Committee on the Status of Women. That committee is, moreover, an initiative of our government, which will, with the help of my colleague and all those sitting on it, cast light on subjects of urgent concern to women, and the cause of women in general.
That said, hon. members will recall that the Prime Minister held a round table this spring. At the end of it, the Prime Minister made a commitment to carry out a series of follow-up meetings in conjunction with the aboriginal peoples. These include one specifically aimed at addressing the issues of aboriginal women, children, social housing and violence.
I will point out also that, within our department itself, we have allocated $1 million over three years to help organizations address the issue of aboriginal women and violence. At the present time we are working on a specific project relating to aboriginal women and this terrible violence that affects them.
I must also point out that we acknowledge the concerns raised in the Amnesty International report. Status of Women will make use of funding allocated to it for the campaign against family violence to support the efforts being made by the aboriginal women's group.
The government has also committed to advancing the cause of gender equality, as well as implementing the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. I am working as well in close conjunction with my federal colleagues, my provincial and territorial counterparts, and the NGOs in putting this convention into practice.
There has been a report on violence against women. The provinces, along with the federal government, have reiterated their desire to work together so that their programs will be virtually interdependent, in order to resolve this inherent problem.
As well there is the entire issue of what is termed gender equality, that is equality of the genders and of what they earn. We have specific measures to encourage this, and to ensure that women are paid at the level their work merits, and of course at the same level as their male colleagues doing similar work.