Status of Women committee  [Witness speaks in Kanien'kéha] Greetings to the chair, honourable members of Parliament, and my esteemed colleagues from the Quebec native women's association. This is at least the fourth or fifth time I'm presenting on this issue, in previous times as the president of the Queb

Status of Women committee  That was in 2005. I think that sounds about right.

Status of Women committee  Firstly I'd like to say that I wasn't aware that the Indian Act was amended in this bill.

Status of Women committee  The provisions to amend the Indian Act before it's been... Is this like a future consideration for amendments to the Indian Act? One of the major problems.... I don't know if you heard all of my presentation.

Status of Women committee  One of the problems has to do with membership codes. While you might have Indian status in Ottawa, the communities themselves are allowed to create their own membership codes and provide services for their members. So it becomes problematic, especially in certain communities wher

Status of Women committee  Thank you. I discussed the inherent treaty rights and how we can incorporate them into any kind of legislation that might be coming up. The process of reconciliation was always one of the things that was very important as we tried to emerge from the residential school process t

Status of Women committee  —in ideological imperialism that has not yet given—

Status of Women committee  It's unfortunate to hear those kinds of stories. I'll come from a Mohawk perspective, so you'll understand where I am coming from. Mohawk women own the land. We have title to the land. We come from a very strong, very resilient nation that does not recognize the authority of b

Status of Women committee  First, just let me state that I'm not against looking and examining what are the best practices on this particular issue. However, as I stated in my opening remarks, the centre of excellence was not discussed during the consultations. This is something that was brought up by the

Status of Women committee  I still disagree with the centre of excellence. I think that with all the time we've spent working on this issue, we should be so much more advanced than we are today. Thank you.

Status of Women committee  Go ahead, Viviane.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  [Witness speaks in Mohawk] I greet you in my language and acknowledge all the natural life forces that allow us to be here today, including mother earth. I've been listening to people talk about the legalities of it, and I'm here to tell you a bit about what it's like to live

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I agree with the previous speakers. I think if you're going to do any amendments, it has to be with the pre, prior, and informed consent of indigenous people. The Canadian Human Rights Commission, and I believe the Supreme Court, have said that Canadian courts are free to use i

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Most definitely funding is going to be an issue. I think the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs should not take so much for the administration cost, because we need the funding. We need to rebuild our nations. If there is going to be real reconciliation, there needs to be

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Saganash. One of the things that I find really difficult is bringing in the human aspect of this, because I know women who have never been able to go back to their communities. This disrupted the family unit. The Indian Act is not just an act in Canada,