Status of Women committee  From the beginning, no, they have not been. We can see that, given the poverty going way back 20 years to when 60% of aboriginal women were living in it. I don't know today if that has changed. It hasn't, I guess, since the last time. No, it's not available. That's why our women are on the streets.

Status of Women committee  I read the report where it stated that residential school kids in care outnumbered the children who resided in residential schools, and shouldn't Canada be ashamed of that? We need to be able to understand. Again, I will stress it, because it's the only thing that made me get to where I am.

Status of Women committee  Coming here 20 years ago, the number one thing that I look at is that there was a place to come and transition into. The Native Women's Transition Centre has always opened the door. What I think needs to happen is we need to emphasize that we support these places, that we see there's a place for women to come when they're trying to get away from domestic violence.

Status of Women committee  I'll give you a short answer. When you asked about some of the solutions, I'm going to tell you to put the funding into education. For those of us who do get educated.... I came here 20 years ago with 16 garbage bags and two children, and because of strong warrior women who helped me through my journey, I'm here to be able to take another sister along with me, chain-linking.

Status of Women committee  Good morning. It's an honour to be here. I want to first of all thank you for having us, and most of all thank Moon Voices, Ka Ni Kanichihk, for taking the time to take this training that is very important to us aboriginal women. One thing it's enabled me to do, for all the years I've been in this field, is to have my voice when I sit among other cultures, because that's lacking.