Special Committee on Indigenous Women committee  The needs identification was the result of a multi-pronged environmental scan. We got the inspiration from various statistical trends that were showing that women in rural and remote environments were at much greater risk of violence, for instance, and had fewer economic opportunities.

Special Committee on Indigenous Women committee  The response we had to this call for proposals demonstrated that there clearly was a need within the communities. There was a lot of interest; the response rate was high. I could provide some specific statistics to the committee clerk if you're interested. What was interesting was that early on we were dealing with stakeholders who had already identified some common challenges, such as isolation and lack of transportation.

Special Committee on Indigenous Women committee  Certainly.

Special Committee on Indigenous Women committee  That's the call that was closed in the fall, and under that call we had 3 of the 27 successful projects for aboriginal communities. In the same year, our girls call had 8 of the 35 projects that targeted aboriginal communities, so, yes, I do have statistics. The rural call, for instance, the results of which were announced a year ago, had 12 of the 55 projects that were with aboriginal communities.

Special Committee on Indigenous Women committee  The short answer is no. There are indeed a whole host of investments at this time. Although no strategy has been described as a national plan as such, there are certainly efforts being made by all of the departments who have a responsibility in this regard. They share information to try to make everything that is being done in the area complementary.

Special Committee on Indigenous Women committee  There have been some excellent collaborations, among the communities as well as among federal departments. Our cooperative efforts work particularly well when the issue has been brought to the fore by the community. In Quebec, for instance, there was a case where there were no services, or very few, available for child sexual assault victims in aboriginal communities, to allow them to receive support in their healing process.

Special Committee on Indigenous Women committee  I would say that at this time, it is probably difficult for the communities to know where to turn. It is very important that within the federal family, the agencies and departments provide clear information concerning what is going on and who can do what. Even if we are making great strides, there is certainly room for improvement in coordination and complementarity.

Special Committee on Indigenous Women committee  Our mandate is broad, as you know, and we have to address the issues that surface under all three of our pillars. Each year we establish calls for proposals, and that's where the bulk of the money tends to be spent. Of last year's calls, we invested the vast majority of our funds in projects that either addressed violence or in projects that were specifically targeting girls.

Special Committee on Indigenous Women committee  That would reflect what the women's program is doing in terms of financial investment in communities and on such specific projects as Sisters In Spirit and Evidence to Action. However, there is a whole other dimension to our work, which is to influence other government programs and policies that have other funds to invest on this issue.

Special Committee on Indigenous Women committee  Most of our projects are multi-year, so the majority of the projects you would have on your list are not complete. Once they are complete, whether it's two years or three years, we do some evaluations. Each project has a close-out assessment.

Special Committee on Indigenous Women committee  We have no knowledge of this, but departmental officials have regular meetings around the family violence initiative.

Special Committee on Indigenous Women committee  I would assume at this point Aboriginal Affairs. We would support them and collaborate with them to offer any expertise we could in terms of the gender lens, the gender components. We do bring to the table expertise on the specific issues and the way to analyze issues as they relate to women and girls.

Special Committee on Indigenous Women committee  I could not speak to cabinet involvement, but—

Special Committee on Indigenous Women committee  Are you looking for information in terms of process?

Special Committee on Indigenous Women committee  We work closely with our partners in the federal government, the provincial governments, and the communities to try to make people aware of the funding opportunities that are available. We take advantage particularly of the networks at Aboriginal Affairs to point out where we should be marketing our funding opportunities.