I did not mean to do that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The...[Minister of Canadian Heritage] who also has responsibility for the Status of Women, suggests that this is the deliverance of equality to women living on reserve as the solutions are now similar to those held by other women in Canada. As President Jacobs explains, this is another level of frustration that NWAC experiences. “Property on reserve is not held in the same way as it is held in the rest of the country. This is a reflection of the unique status of Aboriginal peoples in this country, which in 1982 was enshrined in Canada’s Constitution. Providing the same right as other Canadian women hold does not take account of our unique situation and actually creates inequality rather than protecting against it.”
I read that statement by the Native Women's Association of Canada because it speaks clearly and pointedly to the fact that the government has not, as it claims, moved forward in a process that assures the rights enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples are held domestically. In fact, it does have horrible consequences in the day to day lives of people at the community level. What we have seen is a government that has often claimed to move forward in a process but that has been a sham.