Mr. Speaker, my colleague and I serve together on the Standing Committee on the Status of Women, and we have had the opportunity to work together for some time now.
I will try to be brief. What bothers me today is that all these false indigenous identity claims are being used to obtain funds that could be going toward reconciliation efforts and nation-to-nation dialogue.
As my colleague knows, study after study at the Standing Committee on the Status of Women confirms the need for programs to support indigenous communities, particularly to help indigenous women who are disproportionately affected by resource development in western Canada. My colleague is well aware of this, because she was the one who proposed this study to the Standing Committee on the Status of Women. We also need red dress alert programs. Funding is also needed to promote the economic empowerment of indigenous women and girls and to implement the recommendations of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.
I would like my colleague to comment further on the problem of funding.