Feds to examine property rights of native women
Updated Tue.
CTV.ca News Staff
Many aboriginal women are forced to flee their homes when a marriage or common-law relationship breaks down.
That is because many women living on reserves to not have matrimonial property rights that allow them ownership of the family home -- something Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice said the government wants to change.
"I am pleased to announce that the government of
The next step will be legislation based on the consultations, Prentice said.
"I am going to introduce legislation as soon as I can get it into the House to deal with this issue so that aboriginal women will have property rights," Prentice told Mike Duffy Live on Tuesday.
Prentice said he is confident about the initiative.
"We will succeed in bringing down these barriers that continue to impede aboriginal women and children in this country," he said.
"Stronger rights for aboriginal women mean real strong role models for young aboriginal women, and a stronger generation of young aboriginal Canadians."
The consultations will include officials from Indian Affairs, the Assembly of First Nations and the Native Womens Association of Canada.
Meanwhile, members of Parliament passed a Liberal motion calling on the Conservative government to honour the Kelowna Accord.
Liberal Indian Affairs Critic Anita Neville tabled the motion Monday calling on the government to immediately implement the measures outlined in the plan.
"Members of the House of Commons have added their voices to those of provincial premiers, Aboriginal leaders and millions of Canadians who have declared their support for the Kelowna Accord," Neville said in a Liberal press release Tuesday.
"This is an opportunity to see that the Kelowna Agreement is not added to the list of injustices that have plagued aboriginal people across this country,'' Neville said in the Commons yesterday.
During debate over the motion, the Conservatives accused the Liberals of inaction during their 13 years in power.
"It is a record that is shameful,'' Prentice said Monday. "It will be judged as a period of 13 years of empty promises and dark poverty for aboriginal peoples.''
The Conservatives also accused the Liberals of bringing in the deal in the final days leading up to the federal election.
The former Liberal government brokered the $5-billion, 10-year deal last November. The money was to be used to narrow the gap between aboriginals and non-aboriginals in areas such as housing, education and health care.
It was agreed to by all the premiers, and was also signed by territorial leaders and aboriginal organizations.
Earlier this month, former prime minister Paul Martin, now a backbencher following election defeat in January, introduced a private member's bill on the accord in an effort to save it.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has repeatedly referred to the accord as a "work in progress." It also did not receive much money in the Conservative government's budget.