Special Committee on Violence Against Indigenous Women committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. I wish you all the best with your deliberations and I look forward to seeing your report.

Special Committee on Violence Against Indigenous Women committee  Yes, I think there are very serious concerns that have been brought forward. I of course don't investigate police issues to be able to comment on specifics, but certainly some reports, like the Human Rights Watch report, have brought out some serious concerns on the part of girls

Special Committee on Violence Against Indigenous Women committee  Yes, I'm on a leave from my position as a provincial court judge to be the representative for—

Special Committee on Violence Against Indigenous Women committee  Well, no. The police didn't prepare a report to crown because after she was interrogated—

Special Committee on Violence Against Indigenous Women committee  The number one thing I would see is to get out to girls. Do outreach to girls with community if you can, and if not, get to girls and ask what's going on, what's happening here. Actually hit the ground, as we say, boots on the ground. Get in there and ask what's going on and resp

Special Committee on Violence Against Indigenous Women committee  I don't want the funds to be spent on high-level planning.

Special Committee on Violence Against Indigenous Women committee  I'm glad it was renewed, and I know that it has a lot of broad-based reach. I'm not sure how strong the focus has been on girls and women, but nevertheless I think it is valuable to bring forward some of the deeper root causes around the intergenerational problems, yes.

Special Committee on Violence Against Indigenous Women committee  Yes, that is a critical issue. In order to create safety for girls and women, the evidence is very strong, and it's also my experience around domestic violence policy, that when there is not engagement with men, there will not be long-term safety. There has to be engagement wit

Special Committee on Violence Against Indigenous Women committee  Yes, I think it's essential to have that. You need an adequate investment and you need regular evaluation as to whether that investment is actually reaching those who need it. You need strong oversight and accountability to see if that's working. With regard to the idea of a cr

Special Committee on Violence Against Indigenous Women committee  I think you're absolutely correct that surveying communities that may be rural or remote is significant, and there are often big barriers. When we look at the 203 first nations in British Columbia, many of those are rural. Of course, some are remote as well. Some are more contigu

Special Committee on Violence Against Indigenous Women committee  That's another good example. Child care, for instance, on reserve through Head Start and other programs.... These are important programs. They're not always equivalent to what's offered in a provincial or municipal spectrum, but they're important programs. They need strong servic

Special Committee on Violence Against Indigenous Women committee  Absolutely. There has been a massive system of improvement in the U.S. based on outcomes, measures, and incentives, so it's a much more coherent policy framework. But the U.S. has two concepts. One is there's a duty to protect children from abuse and maltreatment, but it also com

Special Committee on Violence Against Indigenous Women committee  When it comes to preventing violence and responding to violence, I think the first and foremost principle is that everybody has a responsibility. It comes down to those issues of whether you're a friend or a neighbour, whether you're a government—municipal, first nations, provinc

Special Committee on Violence Against Indigenous Women committee  Thank you so much for that. First of all, I want to say that the December 2011 report of the House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status of Women, “Ending Violence Against Aboriginal Women and Girls”, contained extremely valuable recommendations. I go back to those again a

Special Committee on Violence Against Indigenous Women committee  Again, I think the recommendations around having strong crime prevention strategies, strong aboriginal-driven strategies around family violence, and filling the gaps that exist in Canada around that—on reserve especially—are so crucial. The anti-violence work with aboriginal wome