Status of Women committee  Thank you so much, Leah. I just really wanted to quickly amplify that when we look at this, it's really about justice and human security as well. We really need to put a lens on the principles for change from the national inquiry when we look at a focus on substantive equality

Status of Women committee  When we're looking at it, we look at the need to provide funding for adequate resources so that each area can develop the tools and infrastructure it needs to be a participant and to access these systems. Especially when we're looking at the north, we know there's inequity and in

Status of Women committee  We need to look at what infrastructure is required. I'm not a technician by any means, but there's the technical aspect of having the tools and the technology to participate in this red dress alert. There are also the supports and resources to take care of the mental and emoti

Status of Women committee  I'm looking at this through the lens of an indigenous woman. Often it feels like our lives are not valued and that we don't matter. It sends a message to society that it's okay to kill us, it's okay to kidnap us and it's okay to exploit us when governments do not take the necessa

Status of Women committee  I think it's critical to engage them due to their remoteness, isolation and connectivity challenges. We need to ensure that all indigenous people have services and infrastructure to meet their social and economic needs. We need to ensure that all governments uphold the social and

Status of Women committee  Among some of the critical resources we need is infrastructure. That's to ensure that everybody has access to this red dress alert system, especially when we're looking at individuals who live in remote and isolated areas. In addition to that, there have to be wraparound suppor

Status of Women committee  I think one of the things I really amplify in doing this work is that, regardless if you're the federal government or a provincial or territorial government, everybody has a responsibility to be actors in the safety and security of indigenous women, girls and two-spirit and gende

Status of Women committee  First of all, I want to amplify that this a national crisis, so I see it rolling out at a national level, to be fully supported. Everybody should be part of it and develop it collectively. One of the biggest challenges we see in working on the issue of missing and murdered indig

Status of Women committee  I think, ultimately, there has to be an accountability mechanism in place to ensure there's transformative action and a commitment to ensure the red dress alert is implemented. Ultimately, inaction results in the continuance of the disappearances and murders of indigenous women,

Status of Women committee  Thank you. Good afternoon, members of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women. I am Hilda Anderson-Pyrz, chair of the National Family and Survivors Circle, a non-profit organization incorporated in April 2023, led by indigenous women and gender-diverse individuals who a

Public Safety committee  I think that, to a certain degree, it will be helpful and it will be useful. I really stress the importance of having a completely independent mechanism to be able to hold agencies and institutions accountable, to take corrective action and to implement mitigation strategies to p

Public Safety committee  Yes, absolutely. I think it's critically important to ensure that.... We talk about accessibility and, from an indigenous lens, we understand that as victims of gender- and race-based violence, we often have multiple layers of trauma. It's very difficult for us to be able to file

Public Safety committee  I think we really have to focus on accessibility. What is accessible to the average individual who may not have the privilege of being able to file formal complaints? As an example, we have many indigenous people in Canada who live in remote, isolated locations and have had traum

Public Safety committee  Absolutely. As I think you know, it's really critical that there's representation there—someone who understands the effects of systems that have impacted us as indigenous people. Look at Indian residential schools, the sixties scoop, the child welfare system or MMIWG2S+. We've b

Public Safety committee  I have to be honest. We were invited last minute as a witness, so we didn't necessarily have the time to adequately review everything. However, from what we have reviewed, I think there can be gaps, especially when you're looking at who will be represented, how they will be repre