Cabinet ministers set to discuss sexual abuse on reserve: Bellegarde
OTTAWA — The national chief of the Assembly of First Nations will meet three federal cabinet ministers soon to discuss the issue of sexual abuse within indigenous communities.
The discussion will include Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett, Health Minister Jane Philpott and Status of Women Minister Patty Hajdu, Bellegarde said Monday in an interview.
First Nations leaders, set to gather for an annual meeting beginning Tuesday in Gatineau, Que., have also faced pressure from the national chief to have the courage to publicly confront sexual abuse and incest on reserve, following an investigation by The Canadian Press.
“We can help facilitate and create the awareness as the Assembly of First Nations, but the chiefs and councils have to make it alive and real in the communities, because that is where it happens,” Bellegarde said.