2. Women's Perspectives - Christian Aboriginal Infrastructure ...
2. Women's Perspectives - Christian Aboriginal Infrastructure ... 2. Women's Perspectives - Christian Aboriginal Infrastructure ...
A further difficulty is a reluctance on the part of some chiefs and band councils to comply with enforcement actions, particularly notices of garnishment. The experience in Ontario, for example, is that some bands refuse even to provide information that may assist in the enforcement of a support order or notice of garnishment. 104 Consistent with our recommendations in Volume 2, we proposed in Volume 3 that jurisdiction over child welfare and family matters (among others) be affirmed as matters falling within the core jurisdiction of self-governing Aboriginal nations. We also recommended that Aboriginal nations or communities establish family law committees, with Aboriginal women as full participants. These committees would study issues such as • the interests of family members in family assets; • the division of family assets on marriage breakdown; • factors to be considered in relation to the best interests of the child, as the principle is applicable to Aboriginal adoption; • rights of inheritance pertaining to wills, estates and intestacy; and • obligations regarding spousal and child support. The second issue requiring immediate attention is the difficulty of obtaining child care. The lack of accessible and affordable child care is particularly problematic in urban areas. Since urban Aboriginal women usually do not have the extended family and community networks available to women in rural communities, they need access to child care if they wish to seek employment or further education. In urban areas, a significant proportion of Aboriginal families are headed by sole-support mothers. Lack of child care can thus become a barrier to employment: Often poor, without work, with little education and with dependent children, they [Aboriginal women] are isolated and particularly ill-equipped to confront a life setting that is very remote from their first culture. The young women think that in the city everything will be easier, that they will be able to find work, a boyfriend and offer a better life to their children….But the reality that awaits them is quite different. [translation] Éléonor Hoff Quebec Native Women's Association Montreal, Quebec, 27 May 1993 Aboriginal women in all parts of the country spoke about the need for culturally appropriate child care facilities and the resources to maintain them. A lot of women…are going through hardships and a lot of times we have tried to keep the daycare centre open but, according to the law, it is impossible…because it has to look nice and it has to meet government standards….We feel we can maintain a daycare centre 80
on our own….We started one and the women's group ended up losing money, and that money we have raised, which never came from the government, we spent on a daycare centre. Anna Samisack President, Atiraq Women's Group Inukjuak, Quebec, 8 June 1992 Child care is as much an economic development issue as a social issue. Child care is an integral factor in an individual's road to self-reliance and in community economic development and health. Although the impact of inadequate or unavailable child care is felt mainly by women, it affects the whole family and the community. At the centre of it all are the children — the men and women of the future. In Volume 2, Chapter 5, which deals with economic development, we made several recommendations concerning child care. We recommended that Aboriginal, federal, provincial and territorial governments enter into agreements to establish roles, policies and funding mechanisms to ensure that the child care needs of Aboriginal parents are met in all Aboriginal communities. We also recommended that the federal government continue funding research and pilot projects under the Child Care Initiatives Fund until alternative, stable funding arrangements for child care services can be arranged. Third, we recommended that Aboriginal organizations and governments assign a high priority to the provision of child care services in conjunction with major employment and business development initiatives and the restructuring of social assistance programs. Finally, we recommended that provincial and territorial governments amend their legislation respecting the licensing and monitoring of child care services to make the standards for certification and facilities more flexible. We also recommended that in developing and implementing child care strategies, governments pay particular heed to the child-rearing philosophies and practices of Aboriginal peoples. 8.3 Concern about Youth First Nations, Métis and Inuit women are concerned about their young people and note that there seems to be a lack of involvement of youth in community life and decision making. (See Chapter 4 in this volume for our analysis and recommendations concerning Aboriginal youth.) In 1986, 44 per cent of the Inuit were under 15 years of age. This large group of people, future talent, is neither recognized nor fully utilized in today's society. Many of the youth are in conflict with their parents, since they are caught in the transitional stage. They are pulled in two different directions — trying to follow their parents' traditional lifestyle, and trying to prepare themselves for today's modern technological society. Ineaq Korgak Executive Director, Baffin Regional Health Board Iqaluit, Northwest Territories, 26 May 1992 105 81
- Page 23 and 24: The marrying out provisions that ha
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on our own….We started one and the women's group ended up losing money, and that<br />
money we have raised, which never came from the government, we spent on a daycare<br />
centre.<br />
Anna Samisack<br />
President, Atiraq <strong>Women's</strong> Group<br />
Inukjuak, Quebec, 8 June 1992<br />
Child care is as much an economic development issue as a social issue. Child care is an<br />
integral factor in an individual's road to self-reliance and in community economic<br />
development and health. Although the impact of inadequate or unavailable child care is<br />
felt mainly by women, it affects the whole family and the community. At the centre of it<br />
all are the children — the men and women of the future.<br />
In Volume 2, Chapter 5, which deals with economic development, we made several<br />
recommendations concerning child care. We recommended that <strong>Aboriginal</strong>, federal,<br />
provincial and territorial governments enter into agreements to establish roles, policies<br />
and funding mechanisms to ensure that the child care needs of <strong>Aboriginal</strong> parents are met<br />
in all <strong>Aboriginal</strong> communities. We also recommended that the federal government<br />
continue funding research and pilot projects under the Child Care Initiatives Fund until<br />
alternative, stable funding arrangements for child care services can be arranged. Third,<br />
we recommended that <strong>Aboriginal</strong> organizations and governments assign a high priority to<br />
the provision of child care services in conjunction with major employment and business<br />
development initiatives and the restructuring of social assistance programs. Finally, we<br />
recommended that provincial and territorial governments amend their legislation<br />
respecting the licensing and monitoring of child care services to make the standards for<br />
certification and facilities more flexible.<br />
We also recommended that in developing and implementing child care strategies,<br />
governments pay particular heed to the child-rearing philosophies and practices of<br />
<strong>Aboriginal</strong> peoples.<br />
8.3 Concern about Youth<br />
First Nations, Métis and Inuit women are concerned about their young people and note<br />
that there seems to be a lack of involvement of youth in community life and decision<br />
making. (See Chapter 4 in this volume for our analysis and recommendations concerning<br />
<strong>Aboriginal</strong> youth.)<br />
In 1986, 44 per cent of the Inuit were under 15 years of age. This large group of people,<br />
future talent, is neither recognized nor fully utilized in today's society. Many of the youth<br />
are in conflict with their parents, since they are caught in the transitional stage. They are<br />
pulled in two different directions — trying to follow their parents' traditional lifestyle,<br />
and trying to prepare themselves for today's modern technological society.<br />
Ineaq Korgak<br />
Executive Director, Baffin Regional Health Board<br />
Iqaluit, Northwest Territories, 26 May 1992 105<br />
81
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