Question Period Note: Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls

How is the Government of Canada working to prevent and address gender-based violence, including responding to the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls?

• The Government of Canada is working to end the ongoing tragedy of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, LGBTQ and Two-Spirit people.

• The National Inquiry has recognized that commemoration is an important part of healing. In response, the Government of Canada established a Commemoration Fund in 2018 to honour the lives and legacies of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. To date, over 100 projects totalling more than $13 million have received funding.

• The Government of Canada is committed to applying an intersectional lens in its efforts to address gender-based violence. Specifically, understanding how violence is amplified in the lives of Indigenous women, girls and LBGTQ and Two-Spirit people across the country is a priority in the development of national policy and program responses.

• The Department for Women and Gender Equality Canada is working with Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada on the National Action Plan to Eliminate Violence Against Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Intersex and Asexual People (2SLGBTQQIA) (MMIWG NAP).

• The Government of Canada is also working to ensure that the perspectives of Indigenous women, LGBTQ and Two-Spirit people, family members, and survivors are included in the development of a National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence.

In June 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission made 94 Calls to Action. In response to #41, the Government of Canada launched the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) in 2016, with the mandate to inquire into and report on the underlying causes and systemic issues that contribute to the high levels of violence against Indigenous women and girls.

In June 2018, the Government responded to the MMIWG Interim Report by investing nearly $50M in: establishing a MMIWG Commemoration Fund of $10M through the Department for Women and Gender Equality; increasing health supports and victim services; and initiating a review of police practices and a new National Investigative Standards and Practices Unit at the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Over 100 projects totalling more than $13 million over two years were announced in June 2019 to support Indigenous governments and organizations in working with families, communities, and survivors to help honour the lives and legacies of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and LGBTQ2S individuals.

On June 3, 2019, the National Inquiry released its Final Report which included 231 Calls for Justice to be taken by federal, provincial, territorial, and municipal governments, institutions, social service providers, industry, and all Canadians – calling for transformative legal and social changes. Further, the Final Report calls for decolonizing Canadian society and reinstating the power and place of Indigenous women, girls, LGBTQ and Two-Spirit people by indigenizing structures, institutions, legislation, and policies.

The Government of Canada is currently working on a National Action Plan to Eliminate Violence Against Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Intersex and Asexual People (2SLGBTQQIA). The Minister for Women and Gender Equality has been mandated to support the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations to continue to implement the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action and the MMIWG Calls for Justice in partnership with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Peoples.

In addition, the Government of Canada is building on the achievements of the federal Gender-Based Violence Strategy and, in collaboration with provinces and territories, is currently developing a National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence to address the root causes of gender-based violence and the systemic barriers faced by survivors when accessing supports, services, and protections.

Both national action plans will require coordinated and collaborative actions from federal, provincial, and territorial governments, in line with respective jurisdictional responsibilities, and in close partnership with families and survivors, Indigenous partners, civil society, front-line service providers, municipalities, the private sector, and researchers. WAGE is working with CIRNA to ensure the two national action plans are aligned and complementary.

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