Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I think it's important to know that we do have real people answering the phones for us. There are times of the day, however, given the time zones across Canada, where there is a voicemail message. I can assure you we do have a very live person answering that phone, and I should s

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Madam Chair, when we ask for an extension.... At this point in time it's premature to say whether we'll have to ask for more funding, because this involves a rigorous analysis as I'm sure you can understand.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  The legal team is overseeing the operation of the forensic review team, but the forensic review team is made up of individuals such as crown counsel, defence counsel, forensic interview experts. We're trying to arm-wrestle an elder to sit on that committee as well, plus some othe

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I'll try to answer that quickly and clearly. Our community outreach teams go into communities in advance to prepare families and survivors to give evidence later on at a hearing in that same community. That's very important outreach work. We want families to be registered in adva

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  The answer is no. We are not offloading these responsibilities. These are clearly our responsibilities and we take them very seriously and do a lot of work in that regard.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Madam Chair, I'm very pleased to talk about the challenges because they're serious ones. We do work with corporate services at the Privy Council Office. They are our financial advisers. They are our administrative help, in some respects. I want to start by saying the individual

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes. Our legal team in particular has been meeting with representatives of the RCMP to discuss the nature of the files that they're seeking, to make arrangements for a data management privacy protection, and things of that nature. The RCMP has been, as I've said, very forthcoming

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I'll be blunt. Our communications have been lacking, but we're moving forward in a very aggressive and strategic manner. First of all, our community relations teams are on the ground in communities every day. We have also gone to contract with a communications adviser to help bac

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  We are hiring staff across Canada. I don't know if it would be accurate to say “daily”. I would hate to be inaccurate in that regard. Of course, we're looking at having to have staff on the ground all across Canada, which creates challenges in itself, but we're finding ways of me

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  At this point we are close to a full complement of staff. Of course we also have to rely on outside contractors.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you. In conclusion, Madam Chair and members, the loss of indigenous women and girls to all forms of violence is a national tragedy. It has traumatized generations of families. Shining a light on all of the causes of violence, murders, and disappearances is a daunting task.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Madam Chair, I'm very pleased to take a moment to talk about our interim report. I can't, of course, divulge the precise content of that report, but I am satisfied, especially based on the work that our research team has done and our experiences in Whitehorse, that we have a good

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Madam Chair, I'm glad to have the opportunity to address the issue of policing. In the interests of time, I'll be concise in my response. We have always intended to investigate policing, and I think the best way of describing it succinctly is that we intend to investigate the in

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Good morning, Madam Chair and members of this committee. Thank you for inviting us to appear before you today to speak about the progress we're making in the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. I'm Marion Buller. I'm the chief commissioner. Wi