Status of Women committee  I'm certainly in agreement that prevention is worth a pound of cure, as they say. There should absolutely be prevention programs. But in this case, as we've talked about today, the causes are so far-reaching that prevention isn't like building a new basketball court or something;

Status of Women committee  I think I did that report myself, actually.

Status of Women committee  The management protocol is comparable, I think, to the secure units for men. It's a sort of status within corrections, and it's used as a punitive measure against women who are considered a threat or are consistently acting out. It's a most extreme form of segregation. There's no

Status of Women committee  Certainly, incarcerating people for longer periods of time, if in fact the programming is not available to rehabilitate them, is definitely counter-productive.

Status of Women committee  Well, the big picture.... An area of expertise I work in is aboriginal corrections and the justice system. When you talk about violence against aboriginal women, there is the much bigger picture of community breakdown and violence within the community, which then, of course, is s

Status of Women committee  I'm not proposing decriminalization of prostitution; I'm proposing decriminalization of the prostitute, which is a very different thing. To be honest, if the political will were there, I see it as a no-brainer, because if one accepts that at least some of these women—avoiding th

Status of Women committee  I don't know about that. In a previous incarnation, I was a “table” lawyer for self-government negotiations. I did administration of justice, aboriginal courts, etc. It's certainly a long process, whether you're looking at a broad self-government agreement or a type of sectoral a

Status of Women committee  Obviously, I'm aware of it because I work in the field, but it's not really an area in which I've specifically worked. I would say there are probably things in a lot of communities that are pending in terms of urgency and that need to be dealt with. Those things could be prioriti

Status of Women committee  As I understand, that's definitely still the case. There are a few projects that I cited in my article on prostitution law reform. There are a few initiatives that have been undertaken by police forces. I think there's Project KARE. I think that's in Edmonton, but I'd have to che

Status of Women committee  First of all, what I'm advocating is decriminalizing the prostitute, not decriminalizing prostitution.

Status of Women committee  But definitely, if you think about a woman, say, having a bad date or a bad experience with someone who should be reported as potentially dangerous, it's hard to go to the police when you're committing a criminal act. You're basically turning yourself in. If you're going to the p

Status of Women committee  I have looked at the bill. I would be hazarding a guess, but if I recall correctly, as an interim measure, the bill basically provides for provincial legislation in that area to now apply on reserve pending the determination of laws by communities. I think the case is that some c

Status of Women committee  Good afternoon. As was mentioned, I am a lawyer. I was called to the Ontario bar in 1996. I practised aboriginal law with both the federal Department of Justice and the Indian Claims Commission of Canada. Since 2002, I have been a consultant and writer dedicated to aboriginal l