Hon. Michèle Audette: Minister, I have two questions about working with Indigenous leaders. The bill responds to a Call for Justice from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. Among the Aboriginal leaders participating in the drafting of the law, are there also groups of Indigenous women living in the communities who could propose initiatives or share important messages, knowing that our communities are in crisis — including my own, Uashat mak Mani-Utenam?

With the growing problems of drug trafficking and violence, police officers are running out of steam. Do you have any immediate solutions?

Hon. Michèle Audette: Minister, as you know, the Standing Senate Committee on Aboriginal Peoples released its report entitled Not Enough: All Words and No Action on MMIWG back in June.

I would like to share what several witnesses said during the study. The report states, and I quote:

Several witnesses emphasized the importance of Call for Justice 1.7, the establishment of an independent National Indigenous and Human Rights Ombudsperson, by all governments, in partnership with Indigenous peoples . . . .

This also applies to the Government of Canada.

The committee was also pleased to learn that the Government of Canada has begun to reflect on what this position might look like.

My question is simple, minister. Where do we stand today?