Royal Commission ignores women's voices

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The Royal Commission on Aboriginal People continues to ignore women's input into the nation's political issues, despite assurances to the contrary, say Native representatives.

The Native Women's Association of Canada blasted the Royal Commission for paying lip service to equity in an April 2 press release. Their comments were in reaction to two new documents released by the commission, Focusing the Dialogue and Overview of the Second Round.

In 16 months of public hearings, only one in 10 round table participants have been women, sometimes falling to one in 40. Approximately 40 per cent of the presenters in the second round of hearing were women, according to Royal Commission lists. However, only one woman's comments dealing with self-government were published in the two documents.

"Aboriginal women, if they did make up 40 per cent of the presenters, which I doubt, are being seen and not heard if the Royal Commission cannot provide written evidence of their testimony," said Sharon McIvor, executive member for the West region of the association.

McIvor attacked the commission for ignoring aboriginal women's objections to the Charlottetown Accord, saying the reports focused on the minority opinion of those who supported it.

"We condemned the accord for taking away the democratic rights of Aboriginal women and all Aboriginal peoples living outside their communities....

"Ultimately, the whole struggle by Aboriginal women over the past 18 months in the constitutional arena has focused our demand for the recognition of the individual human rights and human dignity of Aboriginal peoples. It is not even glossed over by the Royal Commission. It is ignored," said McIvor.

Native women face a double barrier to having their political concerns heard in a national arena. Both Native and non-Native politicians attempt to block female representatives from participating fully in discussions such as the defunct accord through intimidation tactics and stonewalling, said Marlene Pierre, executive director of the Ontario's Native Women's Association.

Women's groups are also given little aid by federal bodies, as seen in the low funding allotted to organizations from the $10 million Intervenor Participation Program. The program was established to help Indigenous people complete research necessary to present papers to the various Royal Commission hearings across Canada.

Less than 10 per cent of the funds were allocated to 13 women's organizations, which collectively asked for approximately $3.8 million. They received instead $900,000.

"By providing 80 per cent of the funding to men's groups, the female voice in policy-making is effectively blocked," said Gail Stacey-Moore, elected speaker for the Native Women's Association. "By the time NWAC and the women's organizations received IPP funding, the first round of hearings by the Royal Commission had already been completed."

Another striking example of funding discrimination surfaced during the constitutional talks. While $10 million had been provided to men's groups for policy consultations, women's groups received only $450,000. The Federal Court of Appeal found in a ruling last August that the federal government had violated aboriginal women's freedom of expression, guaranteed under the Charter, because of the funding discrepancy.

"The government of Canada cannot continue to fund male speech to the detriment of female speech," said Stacey-Moore.