Status of Women committee  I don't know about statistics right now. I just got back from maternity leave, so you're going to have to bear with me. But I did want to address this. France deals a lot with the shelters that are on reserve, and there are two that are off reserve: one in Quebec City and the one in Montreal.

Status of Women committee  The thing is that when women come to the shelter they are usually coming in crisis, so they're not really looking for skills. They are looking for a debriefing and a way to heal from that particular crisis. Because the woman can stay in the shelter for as little as one night to maybe two months, it's not really the proper place for them to learn skills, because they're just breathing.

Status of Women committee  Yes, it's going from A to B, and having a career of your choice is maybe Z. Maybe it is X, but it is way down the line. I strongly believe in the outreach. It's the support services after they've dealt with the crisis.

Status of Women committee  You're referring to the Aboriginal Healing Foundation cuts?

Status of Women committee  I can only speak for the shelter, and it was the government that decided they no longer wanted to give money to the Aboriginal Healing Foundation. I was on maternity leave, so I remember speaking to AHS, the Aboriginal Healing Foundation, maybe at the beginning of March, when the government was prorogued.

Status of Women committee  I don't know. I think maybe Ellen needs to answer this question. It's a hard question, because what happens if they don't get the counselling? Then they go to jail, right? I think something will have to be implemented at some time. I'm sure there's going to be a time in their lives when they're going to have to say they need help.

Status of Women committee  Who do I see providing the counselling? I know someone who recently got her master's degree, and that's what she was focused on—dealing with violent men, though not necessarily aboriginal. I guess she would have to do more studies on that, but that's a start. Then it's trying to train them to know about the aboriginal population and the challenges.

Status of Women committee  I want to reiterate that what we're finding in the city is that there is a lack of services for men. So if we want our men to get counselling, if they abuse women or they have violent tendencies, there's nothing out there for them. There's no men's shelter for aboriginal men, as there is one for women, and that's definitely needed, and at the same time, services where they have counselling, where they can work on their issues.

Status of Women committee  I just want to talk a little bit about the Aboriginal Healing Foundation. In 2000 the Native Women's Shelter had a project called Moving Towards the Seventh Generation. It was directed at reversing the effects of residential schools. We had it from 2000. It was cut on March 31 of this year, and the implications are humongous.

Status of Women committee  According to the coordinator of the outreach program, which was designed to provide follow-up services to our former in-house clients, the incidence of violence is just as prevalent. She estimates that 70% of her clients are victims of domestic violence. Last year one of her clients was murdered.

Status of Women committee  Hello. My name is Nakuset. I'm the executive director of the Native Women's Shelter. I just wanted to tell you a little bit about what the shelter is and what we are seeing at the shelter. The Native Women's Shelter was established in 1987, and it's the only shelter in Montreal exclusively serving first nations, Inuit, and Métis women and children.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  To your question, I think there is a lot more healing that needs to be done. It's generation after generation. There's also a lot of denial amongst our people about whether or not they're affected by it, and the types of effects are so vast. I don't speak my language because my mother went to residential school; I don't think Health Canada is going to help me very much with that.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Like I said, there was a client at the shelter, and she is Innu from the Labrador area. I'm not exactly sure the name of her community, but she doesn't have an Indian status card because for whatever reason her community is not recognized by the government. So there's a lot of that.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  You know, it's almost like sensitivity training, because I don't think that... For the particular phone call that I had to make, when they heard, “Oh, I have my Indian status, and I'm covered”, they said, “Oh, your Indian status”. They almost equated it to someone on welfare, as if...