Status of Women committee  I would say to promote wellness and empowerment and not focus so much on running from one disaster to another.

Status of Women committee  These statistics still need to be updated, but at the time of the 2001 Statistics Canada census, Canada's aboriginal population was about 1,066,500, representing 3.4% of Canada's population; however, the population is growing faster than the total population. The highest concentr

Status of Women committee  Oh, sorry.

Status of Women committee  No.

Status of Women committee  That's right.

Status of Women committee  I think it would. I think any time you can involve the grassroots, the people who actually experience this stuff, it is always valuable, and it's more valuable than having one representative from each province give some kind of feedback.

Status of Women committee  I don't have my statistics handy.

Status of Women committee  The aboriginal population is one of the fastest growing in Canada, and that's also true in Alberta. I hesitate to say. I ignored my statistics for today. I think it's between 5% and 8%.

Status of Women committee  I agree with both of the previous two speakers, but I would like to add that I am aware of at least one program for abusive men in Fort McMurray that was initiated by the women's shelter, and they've been funded for this for a few years. They're finding it quite successful. Often

Status of Women committee  I'd like to extend that as well. A lot of the women I interviewed talked about losing their children and how that actually prompted them into taking greater risks in their lives, sometimes engaging in drugs and prostitution. It really led to their spiralling downwards.

Status of Women committee  Absolutely, and they go through a lot of grief. So one can imagine how that would prompt them not to bother phoning the police or engaging the criminal justice system at all, no matter what the incident was.

Status of Women committee  I'm thinking of Fort Chipewyan in particular. It's a very isolated northern community. In my discussions with the chief at the time, he talked about how they decided several decades earlier that they wanted to change the violence in their communities. They approached the federal

Status of Women committee  No, I have to say not directly, but I also have to say that when I was conducting the research across Alberta, I did come across some communities that, from within, were really working towards becoming healthy and productive. I don't know if they had really strong women's organiz

Status of Women committee  They are working on it, yes.

Status of Women committee  I do think that's a problem. I would strongly advocate the reinstatement of that long-form census. It's critical information.