Federal committee coming to P.A. to study violence against aboriginal women

“Very little attention has been taken to this epidemic and we really wanted to do something about it,” she said explaining nothing much has been done since the Sisters in Spirit report, and the federal committee needs to see what is happening first hand.

“We felt that it was really important to talk to aboriginal people, to hear from them what the root cause is and what they see as the solutions.”

Lisa Cook, urban aboriginal coordinator with Prince Albert Metis Women and Prince Albert Urban Aboriginal Steering Committee member, said it is good to see the committee coming to Prince Albert.

She has a five minute slot with the committee to give a presentation and answer questions during Wednesday’s public hearing.

Cook said in the latest study done by the First Nations University of Canada, it showed 52 per cent of Prince Albert residents are Aboriginal Peoples.

She said violence against aboriginal women is a big problem in the city.

“We’re not just talking about violence that’s physical that women go though, that give some indication like a black eye or a bruise. We are talking about other aspects too, such as lateral violence and basically the discrimination that goes along with violence,” Cook said adding that violence affects more than just the woman involved, it affects the whole family.

That is the type of thing Fry is looking to hear and one of the reasons they picked Prince Albert to be their Saskatchewan representative.

“We felt that in Prince Albert we could get a sense of both reserves and of isolated and rural communities. It was just a good centre point,” said Fry.

She said they want to get a sense of the people lives in the area. They are bringing in people to speak from reserves and other communities outside of the city too.

Fry said so far they have not heard much difference in the generic issue of violence against aboriginal women from the areas they have visited. What she has noticed is the causes and suggested solutions differ.

“You can’t have a one size fits all policy for a country as big as Canada. If you are going to find solutions for isolated communities they are going to have to be completely different from urban communities,” she said.

“We have aboriginal people really giving us some of the answers and aboriginal people really helping us find solutions instead of inflicting solutions on the aboriginal people.”

Fry said most of the issues revolve around “deculturization” and aboriginal people need to use their culture and traditions to deal with problems.

“We have to make it really loud and clear that it’s a big issue a big problem and it’s affecting more than women its affecting the their whole family,” said Cook.

“How are things going to change for future generations if we don’t say something now?”

Fry said they will take the results of their visits and create a report and recommendations for the federal government.

They will be in Prince Albert Wednesday at the Prince Albert Inn from 12:30 p.m. until 2:30 p.m. It is open to the public, but the general public will not have the opportunity to ask questions – only observe.

The committee will then continue to Winnipeg and will wrap up their public hearing on Jan. 21 in Edmonton.

klavoie@panow.com

by Kellah Lavoie

Federal committee coming to P.A. to study violence against aboriginal women

What's Trending