The Province is investing $1.5 million to increase services and supports throughout the province for Aboriginal people who are affected by domestic violence.
Tribal Chair of the Tsilhqot’in National Government Chief Joe Alphonse says any funding to help people affected by domestic violence is huge but is doubtful, however, that it will be enough.
“To see the amount of funding contributed towards a province as big as British Columbia and for First Nations population being as high as it is in British Columbia there’s not a lot you can do with $1.5 million over a two year period,” he says.
“You wonder whether it’s meant for off-reservee or is that on reserve. Lots of questions remain.”
Alphonse says what can happen when there isn’t enough funding is that programs become ineffective.
Aboriginal women and children reflect a higher percentage of British Columbians who are affected by domestic violence according to the Ministry of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation and the Ministry of Children and Family Development.
Aboriginal women are nearly three times more likely to be victims of intimate partner violence than non-Aboriginal women.
The $1.5-million investment will be used over the next two years to provide direct services for Aboriginal women, men, and children who experience domestic violence.