Feminist Voices No. 15 brings together three timely articles on Canadian issues requiring immediate attention: the lack of matrimonial property law on reserves, the appropriation of women's unpaid labour in the name of community development and the need for feminist bureaucratic structures capable of influencing policy-making.  the articles by Beverley Jacobs and Mary Eberts, and Patricia Simpson treat the struggles of First Nations women to maintain access to property on reserve after the breakdown of a relationship and to support themselves after the death of their partners.  Pauline Rankin's article studies the women's movements' loss of influence on government policy-making in spite of decades of advocacy.

These three articles provide the reader with the background to understand the issues and a theoretical grounding on which useful and effective solutions for women's equality can be built.  Each article concludes with challenging questions.  Would it not be beneficial to Aboriginal women and children to put in place short-term legislative means to provide access to property after the breakdown of a relationship while waiting for long-term Indigenous solutions? When impoverished and marginalized women are left even more vulnerable by the premature death of their spouse, how can they resist the appropriation of the caring work they do as therapy for grief?  If the government no longer needs the advice of advisory councils, whose advice does it rely on to evaluate the impact of policies and practices on women?