Status of Women committee  Urgency is bit of a relative term, of course. If you're bleeding to death, you want the wound cleaned and sealed so that you're not bleeding. But in order to do it right, if we just have the policy-makers go out there and impose solutions.... To date, they haven't been able to come up with solutions that have been acceptable.

Status of Women committee  Thank you for the opportunity to add a few comments. We've been out there many times talking to people in communities, talking to first nation governments, asking what the problem is. We don't need to go out there again and ask those same questions. We have a good sense that women want some of the remedies available under provincial matrimonial law--maybe not quite so far as partition and sale, but certainly interim possession and temporary possession orders, to have those kinds of remedies available.

Status of Women committee  I would just like to offer a very brief additional comment. To clarify this, I don't believe independence is necessarily the appropriate word in this circumstance. I think first nations are seeking a reconciliation of first nations law-making authority with Canadian law-making authority.

Status of Women committee  Instead, the solution lies in recognizing and implementing first nations jurisdiction in regard to matrimonial property rights on first nations lands. Any solution adopted to address this issue must support, strengthen, and affirm the jurisdiction and law-making capacity of first nations, rather than perpetuate the colonial legacy of the Indian Act.

Status of Women committee  The political accord is an agreement that was concluded between the Assembly of First Nations and the Government of Canada on May 31 of 2005. The accord is directed to achieving a reconciliation of first nations and government jurisdictions in a number of areas. The parties have turned their attention, first and foremost, to addressing governance issues and addressing the reconciliation of policies relating to comprehensive claims, etc.

Status of Women committee  Thank you, Madam Chair and members of the committee. We appreciate the opportunity to provide you with a briefing on matrimonial real property issues today. My name is Debra Hanuse. As indicated by Madam Chair, I'm the acting director of law and legislation at the Assembly of First Nations, and with me today is Bob Watts, chief of staff.