Public Safety committee  Actually, our governing members are looking at the possibility. It's a lot more challenging, though, than for some of the first nation communities who have police services. The issue is that we don't have a captive audience in one particular spot. I do know that the Métis nation and the Métis nation governments want to look at developing or building some of their own justice processes.

Public Safety committee  I just want to finish by saying that many of our women reported to us when we were working on the missing and murdered indigenous women and girls profile that many of them ended up being victims of police services as well, so they never felt safe accessing police when they were victims of violence themselves.

Public Safety committee  Thank you. I represent the Métis Nation, one of the three distinct indigenous peoples in Canada. We have our own history, customs, laws, language, culture and tradition. Métis women are vibrant, strong, resilient and resourceful, and are the backbone of the Métis Nation. Les Femmes Michif Otipemisiwak, the organization I represent, is the voice of Métis women in Canada and across the homeland, which is Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I'll be really honest and say that the last place should be the provinces. The provinces very, very often tend to work with the treaty organizations, even though they're supported federally by Indigenous Services Canada. Number one, I think there can be a coordinated effort amongst our Métis communities and our Métis organizations.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  There are considerable gaps when it comes to Métis women and girls. There are food security issues that are going on that are still affecting them. Maybe in an average world, if everybody had access to money and resources, they could try to access those kinds of things. You know, people can say what they want, but groceries are going up.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I think they have to work with the organizations at the grassroots level, and I think they need to fund them. There have been a lot of resources given to other counterparts who are doing many things. We hear about that all the time, whether it's business loans, resources from various other institutions or wage subsidies, but there has been no work done towards ensuring that the people in service delivery processes can continue to deliver services to our communities.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  One of the issues I'd like to raise at this point is that we find many of the women who struggle with the issue of homelessness generally also end up involved in the child welfare system, because they cannot afford to maintain homes for their kids. Living in urban environments, where they very often run to from rural communities, they can't afford the rents and things that are available.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes, thank you. Actually, thank you, Hilda, for that. I absolutely support what you said. It's really important when we're dealing with our youth to understand that a lot of the communication even for them to be able to resource or find supports has not been youth friendly. Many people don't understand the messages and haven't been getting the communication to youth necessary to help protect them through COVID-19, which is very disturbing and concerning because some of them are at extreme risk.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you for that opportunity. There have been very few resources that have been able to go to urban indigenous issues and urban Métis people. I recognize that there have not been the necessary supports to even deal.... I live in Edmonton. I appreciate the British Columbia issues as well.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  We absolutely can make some suggestions, because we have some ideas about how we need to make sure that going forward this never repeats itself again. We will do a written submission to you to make sure that those things are addressed. We actually have a few other things that we'd like to bring forward, which we just haven't had the opportunity to do today.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you. Being Métis, we had a significant issue, because many of the resources that were available through Indigenous Services Canada actually went to the first nation treaty places. I have no idea how they were disbursed or if there were even that many, because there were also crises in the hospitals and things were being collected for there.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  One of the issues I'd like to raise is that there has been funding going out to indigenous communities, and I recognize and acknowledge that. Within the Métis nation, there has been a tremendous amount of work done by our Métis nation governing people to try to address some of the issues of COVID-19.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes, I did. It is a significant issue for many of the women in our communities. They are not allowed out of their communities in most cases. In fact, there are even RCMP to keep them on curfews. They are extremely isolated, which creates really dangerous situations for some of these people.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I can close at that for now.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Good afternoon. I want to begin by thanking the standing committee for inviting Les Femmes Michif Otipemisiwak to speak here today. The COVID-19 pandemic has shaken up all of our lives, and it is critical that we come together to discuss the unique impacts it is having on Métis women and how to effectively respond to these evolving impacts.