Committee
Consult the user guide
For assistance, please contact us
Consult the user guide
For assistance, please contact us
Add search criteria
Results: 1 - 15 of 127
Marie Sutherland
View Marie Sutherland Profile
Marie Sutherland
2013-06-13 18:04
Thank you.
My name is Marie Sutherland. I'm known as Waseskwan Biyesiw Iskwew. That's my Cree name. I work for the Native Women's Transition Centre, and I also work for two different high-risk groups. I am here to voice, as an elder, the violence against aboriginal women and girls, and the missing and murdered aboriginal women and girls, and to address the root causes of the violence against aboriginal women and girls. I have a few examples.
One is women who are leaving abusive relationships on the reserves and coming to the big city to start a new life. Some come with their children, while some have to fight to get their kids back from their ex-partners. These women are very vulnerable. Some come to the city without money when they're leaving abusive relationships. They're tired of getting beat up and abused, and the abuse is not stopping. Some become addicted to drugs and alcohol and are controlled. Women and girls are forced to prostitute themselves. They get raped and beaten. They go missing and they are murdered.
Every day, there is a woman or girl who has been raped and beaten. I hear those stories every day in the kind of work I do. As aboriginal women, we need help from the government to enforce more police services to protect aboriginal women and girls from violence and murder and from going missing.
Every day, I hear stories about girls being raped and girls being beaten—every day—and instead of the government spending millions of dollars in hearings over the next couple of years, we need your help now, today, to hear us as aboriginal people, and to put some money into the police forces to find who's responsible for the violence, for the missing and murdered women and girls.
We need funds and resources to develop awareness and education programs on the reserves and in schools, programs about violence and the missing and murdered women, because some of these women come from the reserves. They have really big dreams of starting school, but they get grabbed by a pimp and the next thing we see is that they're in the newspaper because they've been murdered.
What I'm asking for most is the protection from violence for the women and children and to find who's responsible for the violence and the murdered women. The government and the police services have the responsibility to provide justice for victims and end the violence.
[Witness speaks in Cree]
That's it: no more violence against aboriginal women.
That's all I have to say. I don't have all the documents because this was given to me as I was leaving from Winnipeg for a different meeting.
Thank you very much for paying attention to me.
Jamie Crozier
View Jamie Crozier Profile
Jamie Crozier
2013-06-13 19:11
In my introduction, I forgot to mention a little bit of what my roles are at PACE. I'm a little nervous here, I have to admit.
For the last 10 years I have been a therapist. I worked with victims of sexual abuse, domestic violence, as well as working with sex offenders. Over the last more recent year here or so, I've been coordinating the Caribou Child and Youth Centre, which is a child and youth advocacy centre for children who have to testify and go through the judicial system. I work with the RCMP and child welfare with child witnesses.
What we are here to speak to is that in 2009, Heather King, who is the child prevention and family violence specialist in northern Alberta, and Jacquie Aitken-Kish, who is our executive director, did a research project that included 24 different women from the High Level area. They did a qualitative study over a seven-month period to find out what the climate was, what's happening in these rural remote communities, what suggestions the women who are actually living there and working there have for change, and what they would like to see as possible future outcomes.
Some of the things that were identified as the current crisis that they're experiencing were that victims are afraid to speak out, either from the ramifications coming back from their offender or other community members. There's the appearance of an inadequate sentencing that happens. There's a lack of transportation. I know that was mentioned by one of the other individuals. There's isolation, a shortage of resources and access to professionals and support, and there are high levels of poor health and dysfunction. This is across the board, not just for the individuals who may be victimized or the perpetrators. They're seeing this also in all the strata, including their council and band.
Some of the risk factors that were identified were the ongoing normalization of abuse, whether it be childhood sexual abuse, domestic violence, or just violence in general. This is just something that is commonplace. People grow up with this as being just a part of life, therefore it's easy to fall into the role of victim or perpetrator.
Other risk factors are addictions. We know that addictions are often a result of different types of abuse and trauma. It's a way that people cope. We see a lot of low income and poverty, high dropout rates, low education rates. There's a very transient population in northern Alberta, as well as extreme isolation. A lot of these communities are very difficult to get in and out of. Some of them are fly-in only. There's a lot of easy access to weapons, which also increases the risk when domestic violence is involved.
James R. Coldren
View James R. Coldren Profile
James R. Coldren
2013-06-13 9:59
Okay, let me mention one. This has been fairly well documented by a researcher from Harvard University. Maybe you've come across him. His name is Anthony Braga. He is the research partner for the Smart Policing Initiative in Boston. He engaged in an analysis of crime in what he calls “micro places” in Boston. He identified over 8,000 street segments in Boston and he was able to collect 30 years' worth of violent crime data sorted and analyzed at these different micro places.
He was able to identify with some precision where the hotspots were in Boston, and it wasn't just the hotspots; it was very small geographic areas that had been hot for the better part of 30 years consistently. The stability of these troublesome areas, these hotspots, was incredible. They developed a safe street team approach, kind of a problem-oriented approach to policing in these hotspots. He studied them extensively. One of the more interesting things he found in studying them is when left to their devices, the safe street teams who developed problem-oriented approaches to these problems were more likely to develop kind of social engagement approaches, and not necessarily traditional police suppression approaches. They were very successful through a comparative analysis in reducing street robberies and violent street crimes by about 17%.
I can just tell you from the work that we've done up there that in the case of Boston, you have a researcher who is embedded in the police organization, who has the ears of the police commissioner, as well as the sergeants, lieutenants, and captains. He does analysis on how things are going in the streets of Boston, and they change their tactics and their approaches based on the analysis that Dr. Braga provides them. That's an example of smart policing.
Patrick Baillie
View Patrick Baillie Profile
Patrick Baillie
2013-06-10 16:05
Thank you to the members of the committee for the invitation to be here.
I want to emphasize that I am speaking as an individual, and in that capacity, I wear various hats. I'm a psychologist working in an outpatient forensic program in Calgary. I'm a member of the advisory council for the Mental Health Commission. I'm also a consulting psychologist with the Calgary Police Service. However, the views I'm expressing should not be taken as representative of any of those organizations, but only as being reflective of the experience I've had in these roles, the work I've done with my colleagues, and the patients I've seen over the years.
I want to start by addressing the comments Ms. Galt made, first by expressing my condolences for her exceptional loss, and by agreeing with her that there are clear breaks in the existing system that need to be repaired. To be clear, to me this is a piece of legislation that comes in response to the kind of tragedy that Ms. Galt has described. There should be a response to it, but I do not think this is the forum in which that response should take place.
The Mental Health Commission, funded by the health research foundation of Quebec, supervised a project looking at what happens to individuals who are found not criminally responsible. The survey looked at individuals in Quebec, Ontario, and British Columbia. Because of the tremendous data that was drawn from that project, we were contracted by the Department of Justice to provide some background information for this legislation.
When we looked at individuals who had committed offences of homicide, attempted homicide, and designated sexual offences, they were found to comprise approximately 10% of all individuals who were found not criminally responsible. Certainly the proportions varied from province to province, but across those three areas the 10% figure was made up of those who had been engaged in these serious violent offences. That's out of a category of individuals who are very unlikely to be found not criminally responsible in the first place. By that I mean Canada experiences approximately 400,000 criminal charges per year, of which 1.8 per 1,000 or approximately 720 cases are resolved by way of a not criminally responsible verdict. Of those, 10% or about 72 cases a year are the cases involving serious violent offending.
The nature of the offence tells us very little about the likelihood that the individual who's found NCR will benefit from treatment and will be successfully reintegrated into the community. By that I mean there are many variables that go into predicting recidivism. Those variables are addressed by review boards, which are given expert evidence and which make the decision about whether or not to grant release or to keep the individual detained.
The recidivism rate for individuals granted an absolute discharge after a finding of not criminally responsible, over a three-year period, sits at 11%. Of those, 7% are for a new violent offence and 4% are for a new non-violent offence. If you do the math, 400,000 cases, 1.8 per 1,000 that result in an NCR outcome, 10% of those that involve serious violent offending and 7% of those that recidivate in a violent way, you end up with a piece of legislation that potentially affects four or five people per year. That is still a critically important number because of the information that Ms. Galt has presented to you today.
I don't mean to dismiss that, but let's be clear. What the legislation intends to do is to change the parameters around NCR. If this is legislation that is intended to target Allan Schoenborn, Vincent Li, Guy Turcotte, and Richard Kachkar, none of those individuals had previously been found NCR, and each had been involved in his respective provincial mental health care system.
When Louise talks about the need to support victims, I fervently advocate that in my own work. I see victims of crime, as well as the perpetrators. That gives me a unique perspective on what these people have experienced. This is legislation that does not affect the rate of recidivism, but in essence ends up being punitive towards individuals based on the nature of the offence.
I encourage the committee to look at the information that has been provided in the research to the Department of Justice and to look at the supports that can be given to ensuring adequate services in the provinces so that individuals with mental health problems do not deteriorate to the point of committing serious violent offences and victims are given adequate supports so they can move on with their lives in a productive and meaningful way.
Thank you.
View David Sweet Profile
CPC (ON)
In January, Mr. Gordon said, Guatemalan Goldcorp security guards opened fire on protesting workers.
How do you respond to that?
Brent Bergeron
View Brent Bergeron Profile
Brent Bergeron
2013-06-06 13:19
That is another operation. That is not an operation that is operated by Goldcorp. I believe they make reference to an operation that is actually owned by a company called Tahoe Resources.
View Wayne Marston Profile
NDP (ON)
Let me jump back in. From the sound of what you're telling me, that's exactly what I would want to hear.
The reason I'm interrupting you is that I believe the days are gone.... I'm not suggesting that your company or another Canadian company has done this, but there's a reputation of companies in the mining industry turning a blind eye to some of the things that have happened over the last number years to people, such as opponents to a particular site being beaten and in some cases “disappeared”, in some of the more extreme countries.
From our perspective, knowing that the eyes of the world are now on Canada because we are a leading force in mining, I think it's very important and I'm pleased to hear that you are involved with corporate social responsibility.
On April 27, security personnel shot and wounded six people at the Escobal mine site. According to wiretap evidence, Tahoe security manager Alberto Rotondo ordered mine security to attack the protesters. Mr. Rotondo has been charged with serious crimes—causing injury, obstruction of justice, and it included tampering with evidence at the site of the crime.
Now, as we heard before, Goldcorp owned the mine until 2010 and has a 40% share.... How does your company, with your stated principles and the things you were talking about, square that with corporate social responsibility, given the connections to this particular individual and the kinds of activities he's accused of? You did say that you had security investigations going on relative to this, but that relationship had been ongoing. This wasn't new news, and the people who came before me were talking about situations similar to this one from before.
I'd like to hear your position and give you a chance to respond.
Brent Bergeron
View Brent Bergeron Profile
Brent Bergeron
2013-06-06 13:28
Okay.
Well, one of the reasons we are conducting our investigation and the government is conducting its investigation is that we want to be able to make sure we understand exactly what happened during that incident. There has been a lot of information coming out regarding what exactly occurred that day. We even have reports that certain protesters were bused in from other areas of the country to be able to protest the mining operation.
When we have spoken to officials over at the Tahoe operation, they have always given us a very good impression and good information regarding their relationship with the surrounding community, and from all indications, that relationship has always been extremely good.
That's why we are trying to continue to see what happened in this specific incident: to make sure that we get all the information and that we take decisions based on it.
Having said that, we are in direct communication with many of the senior managers at Tahoe, and based on the experience we had at the Marlin mine in Guatemala, which.... We have a very good relationship going on right now, and things are very good in terms of our closure plan, which we are moving towards with the community and the government, and are trying to transfer the lessons learned to the people from Tahoe.
View Mark Strahl Profile
CPC (BC)
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I would like to thank my colleagues on this committee. I'm not a regular member of this committee, but the Yale First Nation is in my riding of Chilliwack—Fraser Canyon, and I would tell anyone who wants to see one of the most beautiful parts of British Columbia to make their way up to Yale and the Yale First Nation territory. It's a beautiful drive. Fraser Canyon is a beautiful part of our province.
Chief Hope, it's good to see you again. Going forward, I'm sure that you look forward to spending more time in your first nation territory and less time in Ottawa.
I did want to talk to you. You would have read the testimony from the meeting on Tuesday. It's very similar to newspaper articles that have been going around in Chilliwack, Hope, and the Fraser Canyon for a number of months now, where the Stó:lo grand chiefs, while not perhaps endorsing it, have certainly indicated that there's a real threat of physical violence should the Yale treaty be allowed to proceed.
What's your reaction to that sort of provocative language? They've also struck a war council, for instance, and things like that, which we're not used to seeing in first nation to first nation relationships. Could you give your reaction to those comments and let us know what you're planning to do to ensure that your people are safe and that there isn't an unnecessary escalation in your territory?
Norman Hope
View Norman Hope Profile
Norman Hope
2013-06-06 10:04
Thank you, Mark. It's good to see you again.
I should share with the group that I saw Mark at the graduation ceremonies on Saturday in Hope. I was surprised. He was a long way from here, and he was there within 24 hours.
Regarding the violence, I don't appreciate that sort of language. It makes no sense. I don't believe that it will get us anywhere. We can't make progress when somebody makes those kinds of comments.
What I did note in the session here the other day with the Stó:lo is they were saying that they will not, I guess, attack Yale First Nation people. That's the first time I've seen that. I've always assumed that any violence they did would be towards Yale First Nation people, but they finally admitted that no, that's not the case; the violence will be directed at, as far as I could understand it, the Fisheries and Oceans officers. I'm sure they can look after themselves, but....
I'd like to share with the committee what we hope to do starting this year and into the future. We've been working on a map with the RCMP, as well as with the fisheries officers. We've put every fishing site in the area on a GPS map. We've put the trails and the fishing campsites on a GPS map. We've done that so that if there is an emergency or a problem somewhere in the area, we can direct them to the location. We would both know the area, and they could get to the problem or the emergency in a very short period of time.
We're also going to share that map with the Hope search and rescue group, the Yale volunteer fire department, and the ambulance service, so that when there is a problem the appropriate agency could go directly there. The Fraser Canyon is a really wild bit of country. There are no street lights. We only got cellphone service in the canyon this past year. There's very little...well, you're all by yourself at times, way out in the middle of the canyon.
That's what we hope to do. I think that will have a positive effect on the people who come to fish, camp on the land, and enjoy the scenery and the river.
View Jean Crowder Profile
NDP (BC)
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Grand Chief Kelly, Grand Chief Hall, and Ms. Teillet, for coming before us.
Just so you know, the briefing document provided by Aboriginal Affairs says:
Taking steps to address government consultation obligations does not diminish the desirability of having First Nations resolve overlap issues amongst themselves, and Canada and British Columbia have continued to encourage Yale First Nation's efforts to discuss and resolve any shared territory issues with neighbouring First Nations.
What comes out of the department is very different from perhaps what people believe. We've seen this in other agreements.
Tsawwassen was a really good example where there were issues around overlap. The Cowichan, Penelakut, and the Stz'uminus alliance pointed to overlap issues that were not resolved before the treaty. We raised concerns around that, and essentially the government of the day indicated, “Well, it's up to the first nations to sort it out. We've done our bit.”
Ms. Teillet, you pointed out Tlicho. Tlicho is a really good example. We managed to pass that bill at all stages in the House because it was resolved before it got to the House.
It's a frustrating process because—Tsawwassen is a good example—once the agreement is signed, essentially the government washes its hands. This isn't a partisan remark. This isn't about whether it's Conservatives or Liberals who are negotiating treaties. It doesn't matter. It's the stance. It's the policy that it's up to first nations to sort it out, even though often the territorial disputes are as a result of policies imposed by governments in the past that did separate nations, that did separate families, that did divide territories.
I have two questions.
The clause 7 amendment, in your view, would take the shared territory off the table. What process would need to be in place in order to move forward to get some sort of an agreement on that?
Chief Kelly.
Doug Kelly
View Doug Kelly Profile
Doug Kelly
2013-06-04 9:28
We're engaged now as Stó:lo leaders in talking about what we need to do together to organize ourselves to look at how we manage lands, resources, and opportunities. Our leadership is keen to avoid what's taking place today, where one part of our family is creating a potentially violent altercation on the river and on the banks of the river.
For us, we're already doing it. We're meeting among ourselves as tribes, as leaders. We're talking about how we are going to work together, how we resolve differences in a good way, how we make sure we support one another. When it comes to Yale, they are working with us through various fisheries management regimes.
View Hoang Mai Profile
NDP (QC)
As I see it, brutality is quite subjective. Can you give us a definition of a brutal crime or action, with reference to other parts of the Criminal Code? Since this is a new criterion for a new category of accused, can you tell us how brutal is defined?
Julie Besner
View Julie Besner Profile
Julie Besner
2013-06-03 16:43
The bill does not contain any definition of brutality; it simply sets out a provision requiring the court to consider the nature and circumstances of the offence. So the bill contains no definition of brutality as such. It would be up to the court to decide that case by case.
View Scott Reid Profile
CPC (ON)
You are, unfortunately. Actually, we all will be out of time, but I just have a question.
With the indulgence of the subcommittee, I'd just like to see the clock as being early enough to allow me to ask one follow-up question to the last point, if that would be okay with you.
I wanted to ask our witness this. We've done some other hearings in another part of Latin America, Venezuela, which also has a very high crime rate, and this is a problem, although Honduras is particularly bad. It exists across the region. In the case of Venezuela, there had been a spike upwards in recent years. I'm not sure if that's the case in Honduras. I recognize it's not strictly speaking a human rights problem in the formal sense, but is there any commentary you can make as to whether something the government is doing is leading to this phenomenally high rate of violent crime? Is it something that is endemic in the culture or in poverty? Is it something that is essentially beyond the government's control? I'm giving you a free field to make any comment you think is appropriate in this regard.
Results: 1 - 15 of 127 | Page: 1 of 9

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
>
>|
Export As: XML CSV RSS

For more data options, please see Open Data