Status of Women committee  You're right, the research has shown that there are barriers to seeking justice in sexual assault cases that start right from the time the complainant decides whether she's going to go to the police or not. For me, one of the things that is very important for us to think about is

Status of Women committee  I agree with what's been said so far. My interpretation of the bill is that the language of social context training would include training on intersectionality issues. I don't think something needs to be added to the bill to include that, as long as it's understood that social co

Status of Women committee  Good morning. Thank you for the opportunity to speak to the committee this morning. You have heard that I'm a law professor at the University of Calgary. I want to note I'm also a former crown prosecutor, and I was one of the complainants in the Robin Camp matter before the Cana

Status of Women committee  I'll address the constitutional part of your question, and then I think perhaps Muriel is the best person to talk more specifically about those concrete solutions. The federal government clearly has jurisdiction over aboriginal peoples. The provincial government has jurisdiction

Status of Women committee  I think it would, if the law was seen as being aimed at aboriginal peoples and your jurisdiction there. I think that would be fine. At the same time, though, I don't know that it's necessary to go to that stage of passing a specialized law. I think what's important is for there

Status of Women committee  Yes.

Status of Women committee  The voices of aboriginal women need to be heard, and they actually need to be accounted for when laws and policies are being developed.

Status of Women committee  I agree with that. On the consultation front, I teach constitutional law, so I teach the duty to consult and the duty to accommodate. I think sometimes we forget about the accommodation piece. We think about the consultation piece, but once those consultations are done, they have

Status of Women committee  I think there is. You can have a piece of legislation that has important general principles that may be broadly applicable, but then the legislation can be implemented through different sets of regulations and different policies and practices. It's at that level of policy and pra

Status of Women committee  But I think there are ways to meaningfully implement those broader principles at the community level, and it's really important for that to happen.

Status of Women committee  I have a couple of thoughts as a result of what you've said. First of all, no one speaks with one voice. We have a huge diversity of aboriginal people across the country, so we need to recognize that aboriginal women are not going to speak with one voice, whether it's on Bill C-3

Status of Women committee  I have just a couple of things to add. I think in addition to the importance of having specialized treatment for aboriginal men who are perpetrators of violence, we also have to recognize that systemic problems continue in Canada and that aboriginal men are also victims of ongoin

Status of Women committee  I think fear of the apprehension of children is one of the main things that keeps aboriginal women from reporting violence to the police, because as soon as social services or child welfare finds out there is violence in that home, and if the woman has not left the home, the solu

Status of Women committee  We need to provide the services and supports to the family to allow the children to remain within the family.

Status of Women committee  I'm glad to have a chance to address this point, because there's a bill before Parliament right now dealing with Indian status and band membership for aboriginal women arising out of the Sharon McIvor case. Sharon McIvor has been a huge figure and is really a leader in the aborig