Mr. Chair, at a recent Status of Women committee meeting, Ellen Gabriel, president of the Quebec Native Women's Association said:
The value of aboriginal women in our society today has diminished to where, as Amnesty International has stated, we have become a commodity in society in general.
Aboriginal women have told members on this side that they have felt used by the Minister of Indian Affairs and that the implementation of Bill C-44 as is and as presented will create more problems for them.
Why has the minister not spoken up on behalf of the status of aboriginal women to her colleagues?