It keeps happening. Young, aboriginal women across Canada found dead or severely beaten. But for them, and the families of the 1,200 missing and murdered Indigenous women, this week's announcement of a federal government inquiry offers a rare moment to celebrate. I applaud the Liberal Government for finally recognizing that we, Indigenous women, are valued enough to make this a national issue. A lot of women have been working for many years around this issue.

"It’s just totally inappropriate for a minister to be playing partisan politics on something this important."

The recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission were on the agenda of Canada's premiers, meeting at Happy Valley-Goose Bay earlier this week. The Premiers did more than discuss the wide-ranging recommendations.

Last year, an independent study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and Save the Children Canada based on Statistics Canada figures found that status First Nations children in Ontario -- those who would be affected by these cuts -- have a staggering poverty rate of 40 per cent, compared to 15 per cent for non-Indigenous children.

DeThank you for your letter of July 17 in which you respond to the failure of the Federal Government to fulfill its legal obligations to the survivors of St. Anne's Residential School. Of particular concern was government's breach of the Independent Assessment Process by failing to inform the claimants and adjudicators of the large body of police evidence and court transcripts that confirmed widespread criminal abuse at St. Anne's.