Mr. Speaker, the second petition is from supporters of the Native Women's Association of Canada, who understand that as part of the Sisters in Spirit campaign, NWAC has identified nearly 600 missing and murdered aboriginal women whose cases go back to 1970. The equivalent in the whole Canadian population would be 18,000 missing or murdered women.
The research done by NWAC has convinced Canadians that violence against aboriginal women must be stopped and that we need to find strategies, resources and tools to stop women from disappearing. They call upon the Parliament of Canada to ensure that NWAC receives the funding it was promised to continue its important work protecting women through its Sisters in Spirit initiative, and to invest in initiatives recommended by NWAC to help prevent more women from disappearing.