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Results: 1 - 15 of 218
View Rachel Blaney Profile
NDP (BC)
Thank you, Chair, and I want to thank all of you for your testimony. I think the history of indigenous women being trafficked is Canadian history that goes so far back. I think of my granny, who was in residential school and at 16 got married off to a carpenter in the community who was significantly older than she was. I remember hearing that story and thinking, “That explains some things.”
I want to thank you all for telling that story, and for also understanding how systemic it is in our system.
My first question is going to come to you, Karen. You talked about the government cutting money while you're being asked to do even more. I heard testimony from everyone about the lack of resources and not knowing where to put people who are trying to escape trafficking.
I wonder if I could come to you first, Karen, and then I will come to you, Madame Gobert, because I haven't heard from you yet. I would love to have you answer that question, and then I'll continue on.
View Rachel Blaney Profile
NDP (BC)
Thank you for that.
Ms. Perrier, you talked about people having to stay in your house because there's nowhere to send them. I'm curious as to whether you could talk about the concern you have around a limit of resources and not having a place to send folks so that they are safe.
View Rachel Blaney Profile
NDP (BC)
Thank you, Chair. I will go to Trisha.
You didn't get a chance to answer my question, and I will frame it specifically for you, based on your previous testimony.
You talked about the area where trafficked indigenous persons are and the fact that the aboriginal housing is right there. The services are a couple of blocks away, and they're staying in that area because they don't have an alternative.
When we talked about having the resources to support people who are trying to get out, you talked about the ability to leave and how beneficial resources are for you. Do you see a gap there in this particular case?
View Rachel Blaney Profile
NDP (BC)
Thank you, Chair.
Thank you to all our witnesses today.
Ms. Skye, I'd like to come to you with my first question. You talked about this in your introduction to us, but could you be more specific about what makes indigenous women and girls more vulnerable to violence? How do those responses impact them and the communities around them?
View Rachel Blaney Profile
NDP (BC)
I guess what we heard from other testimony is that there are challenges. Like what you just said, the services aren't quite reaching these communities, so what is the block to that? I'm wondering if you could also talk about the issues that exist between provinces and territories regarding interjurisdictional issues and how those supports might be fragmented for a trafficked person.
View Rachel Blaney Profile
NDP (BC)
This is such a complex issue, and I really appreciate the part you're talking about in terms of basic human rights, but I feel like a lot of Canadians don't understand what people mean when they say indigenous people need basic human rights.
I'm just wondering if you could say what that means for you, Ms. Skye.
View Rachel Blaney Profile
NDP (BC)
Thank you so much, Chair.
Ms. Skye, I want to come back to you. You talked in your presentation about the importance of governance systems, and you just gave an excellent answer on human rights and how those are connected.
Could you talk about governance systems and how they impact the trafficking of persons? You also talked about the trafficking of adoption. I'm just wondering if you could talk about the governance systems, the undermining of those governance systems, and how it relates to the human trafficking today.
View Rachel Blaney Profile
NDP (BC)
Thank you, Chair.
Ms. Skye, I'm really struggling with understanding this divide that I've been hearing through testimony for the past several witnesses and days. We've heard testimony that there is a difference between sex work and human trafficking.
Adding the layer of the colonial history of Canada and its impacts on indigenous people, how do we balance a response? We're hearing two sides. How do they come together, or how do you work on these two approaches simultaneously?
View Rachel Blaney Profile
NDP (BC)
Thank you, Chair.
Thank you to everyone who's here to testify today. I really appreciate what you had to share.
I'll come first to Ms. Brown and then follow up with Ms. Anderson-Pyrz.
I'm hearing a lot of information here that is really interesting, but I want to get more into the services that are provided. I really appreciate hearing about the needs of rural and remote communities as a result of their lack of access and having to send people away. I think that's really important.
I'm just wondering if you could start, Ms. Brown, about how your organization supports individuals who have experienced or are experiencing sex trafficking. What are the most important factors to consider when providing these services to indigenous individuals who have experienced sex trafficking?
I also just want to say that if you have any information about the male side of this—because I've also done some research, and it sounds to me like there's a growing population of men who are being sex trafficked—I think it would be helpful for the committee.
Thank you.
View Rachel Blaney Profile
NDP (BC)
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
If I could come back to you again, Ms. Anderson-Pyrz, first of all, I do want to touch base on the hotline. I've heard from indigenous folks in my riding, especially with the finding of the 215 children, “Why would I call a hotline? Who is on the other end? They have wrecked everything. Why would I call them to ask for help?” I've heard it so many times that I can see there is a gap there.
I'm just wondering if you could talk about that, but could you also just talk about the services that you provide? What are the challenges, especially due to the fact that you're representing a rural and remote region?
Thank you.
View Rachel Blaney Profile
NDP (BC)
Chair, I would like to cede my time. I really want to hear from Ms. Redsky. I don't want her to lose a minute.
I also just want to say it's nice to have another Blaney in the room. Fay. It's always good to have your sister-in-law online.
Thank you, and I will cede my time.
View Rachel Blaney Profile
NDP (BC)
Thank you, Chair, and thank you to everyone for being here to testify.
I want to start off by saying that I think it's important for all of us to recognize that what we're seeing across Canada in indigenous communities is not a call for remembrance or commemoration. It's a call to acknowledge genocide, and to acknowledge that there are crime scenes across our Canada, that there are graves of indigenous children across our country. I want to acknowledge that as I start my questioning.
My first question is, how many nations is the department currently working with to identify possible burial sites?
View Rachel Blaney Profile
NDP (BC)
Justice Sinclair has told the world that when he started this process, when he was part of that commission, they didn't expect the number of stories they received from survivors who were talking about children killed, children who died and children who never returned. They weren't sure what happened to them, indicating very clearly that there was something serious happening here that we should have been looking into and, of course, that wasn't studied the way it should have been.
I'm just wondering if you could tell us how many requests the department has received, how many have been dismissed and how many have been followed up with, and if the stories of survivors are enough for an investigation.
View Rachel Blaney Profile
NDP (BC)
Thank you. I'm sorry to interrupt, but I just have a quick few seconds left.
Are there support systems that are going to be available for communities, should a cite be identified? We need to see trauma-informed care given onsite for elders, knowledge keepers, community members, survivors and their families. I'm just wondering if those resources are also part of this package.
View Rachel Blaney Profile
NDP (BC)
Thank you.
I'm just going to start off by saying that I am having slightly confusing feelings about hearing again and again that it should always be nation-led. I 100% agree with that, but we're asking communities that are dealing with huge grief, that are already dealing with the realities in their communities.... They are largely underfunded to do the services that they need, to just provide basic things for their communities, and now we're asking them to guide us on how to deal with the genocide perpetrated against them by Canada and the churches.
Yes, I think it's important, but I just.... I don't have an answer for that, but I want to put my discomfort on the record that communities that are dealing with all the things they're dealing with are now being told on top of that, “We're going to send you an e-mail, and you let us know what you want to do.” It's pretty hard when you're grieving the fact.... I mean, this has triggered people who are survivors, people who are the children and grandchildren of survivors, and I think part of the reason it's triggered them is because they've heard these stories, generation after generation, of the survivors saying, “We saw. We saw these things happen, but when we told, nobody cared.”
This is genocide. Canada has to own this and stop asking indigenous communities to carry the bag. This is Canada's genocide against them. I just want to put that on the record. I'm just so frustrated right now.
If I could just hear from you on two questions.... What's the timeline between a nation or community coming forward and people arriving on the site to do the investigation? What is the capacity within indigenous communities, and how is it being built up so that they can do these inspections themselves without having a third party come in to do them?
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