Special Committee on Violence Against Indigenous Women committee  Both of my colleagues were just reflecting on the question about shelters and the sense that there aren't enough services that are there and that we need the communities to design the approaches that are going to work. We need an action plan that brings together thoughtful consideration, and the very best knowledgeable people in the area supporting the safety and security of those most vulnerable in any society.

Special Committee on Violence Against Indigenous Women committee  Thank you. We know that the family is going through a ceremony tonight. Charlene and I were with the family up home, where they come from, in the Gitanmaax area just outside of Terrace. This is the reason for the need for this to be such a coordinated effort: the ebb and flow of our peoples between communities, between the urban and the rural settings.

Special Committee on Violence Against Indigenous Women committee  First of all, there is ongoing work on the framework. A resolution was adopted at our annual general assembly this last summer. To be clear, in responding to Jean Crowder earlier request that I choose three key steps, they essentially round up to four—the call for the public commission of inquiry.

Special Committee on Violence Against Indigenous Women committee  I thank you, Mr. Strahl, not just as a fellow British Columbian, but as one who had close relatives whose remains were found on that farm, I often found myself supporting family to try to find missing individuals from my community in the downtown eastside. Mr. Cyr articulated the wide range of reasons, which I chose not to go into tonight because I think this committee knows them more than most.

Special Committee on Violence Against Indigenous Women committee  Thank you. Just to be clear, I think the action plan is absolutely in parallel with the call for the national public commission of inquiry, and I think that must be emphasized, because some may think the national public commission of inquiry is about what's happened over the course of history.

Special Committee on Violence Against Indigenous Women committee  [Witness speaks in Nuu-chah-nulth] Greetings. I am A-in-chut. [Witness speaks in Nuu-chah-nulth] I want to join others in acknowledging that we're here in unceded Algonquin territories. It's my privilege to offer up some thoughts as National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations.

Subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Finance on Bill C-38 committee  First nations often experience this notion that first nations are being sought to deliver certainty somehow to somebody else, whether it's the market or whether it's process, etc. Really, I think if we dig deeper to certainty, we're looking for clarity of process, first of all, so comments around what consultation and accommodation are.

Subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Finance on Bill C-38 committee  Again, in relation to what I've described, there really isn't a week that goes by when I'm not speaking with, for example, Byron Louis, of the Okanagan Indian Band in the interior of British Columbia about invasive species in that watershed. Whether it's cottage development, which has been mentioned, mining, or other developments that are happening on watersheds, each and every one of them relate to a regulation that's provincial or federal in which first nations' rights and title are being overstepped or overlooked.

Subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Finance on Bill C-38 committee  I don't know. What I do know is that the government has already allocated $13.6 million to first nations consultation. As a threshold matter, only about $7.4 million, or just over half of that money, is actually allocated to first nations communities for consultation. The rest, as we understand it, is going to support the bureaucracy.

Subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Finance on Bill C-38 committee  As I'm alluding to here, there is not confidence, given the process leading up to the development of Bill C-38. The process for its very development has not been satisfactory, which has been stated more than once here already, such that the AFN must state that we're understandably very skeptical about any potential improvements.

Subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Finance on Bill C-38 committee  I think that really is a two-part issue. First of all, we're not sure that the federal government can give up its responsibility to deal directly with first nations—its duty to consult and accommodate. It was the reason for the recent crown-first nations gathering. The relationship is with the crown, and in the steps that were set up in the outcome statement that the Prime Minister issued, it offers the notion that we have to work together to address a way forward, which is what this bill oversteps.

Subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Finance on Bill C-38 committee  When I briefly cited some of the court cases, including Marshall...I was at the late Donald Marshall Jr.'s funeral when he passed away. He was an iconic figure for indigenous peoples, not just in this country but globally. What the Mi'kmaq and others who have led these challenges have been undertaking is really twofold, and it speaks directly to your discussion here.

Subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Finance on Bill C-38 committee  Mr. Chair, as a fellow British Columbian, this is a really important and meaningful aspect. The amendments to the Fisheries Act are not conservation-oriented. Merely protecting aboriginal fisheries from “serious harm” is not adequate to ensure continued access to sustainable healthy fish stocks.

Subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Finance on Bill C-38 committee  Thank you Mr. Chair, members of the committee. [Witness speaks in Nuu-chah-nulth] Thank you for that pronunciation as well. My name is A-in-chut...[Witness speaks in Nuu-chah-nulth ] Just a few words in my Nuu-chah-nulth west coast of Vancouver Island language to express my appreciation for being here in Algonquin territory.

Environment committee  Key principles of...?