Question Period Note: MMIWG2S+

What is WAGE currently doing to address Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people?

•Violence against Indigenous women, girls, and Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex and asexual (2SLGBTQQIA+) people in Canada is an ongoing national tragedy.
•The National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence is complementary to other federal and national action plans, specifically the 2021 Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ National Action Plan, as well as the federal 2SLGBTQI+ Action Plan.
• The Government of Canada has invested $55 million over 5 years to bolster the capacity of Indigenous women and 2SLGBTQQIA+ organizations to provide gender-based violence prevention programming aimed at addressing the root causes of violence against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people.
o As of June 2023, 90 projects supporting First Nations, Inuit, and Métis organizations have signed funding agreements.

Investment
•Since 2015, the Department has funded over 455 projects, providing approximately $193.3M to projects supporting Indigenous and Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and additional sexually and gender diverse people (2SLGBTQI+) communities representing 33% of all WAGE investments (data excludes COVID funding).
•WAGE further increased its work to support Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people following the Calls for Justice in the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. In 2019, WAGE provided $13M to more than 100 commemoration projects to help honour the lives and legacies of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people.
•Budget 2021 provided $55M to WAGE over 5 years to bolster the capacity of Indigenous women and 2SLGBTQQIA+ organizations to provide gender-based violence prevention programming aimed at addressing the root causes of violence against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people.

Results
•A Call for Proposals to implement the Budget 2021 investment of $55M closed in March 2022. Successful projects across the country have been announced, with more to come. This investment is a key deliverable under the Federal Pathway to Address Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People as well as the first investment under the National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence.
•A First meeting of the Federal-Provincial-Territorial-Indigenous Roundtable on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ People took place in January 2023. A second meeting is planned for fall 2023.

Project examples
•Les Femmes Michif Otipemisiwak who will receive $734,340 to develop a Métis 2SLGBTQQIA+ National Action Plan, with representation from across the Métis Nation Motherland;
•Tahiuqtiit Woman’s Society (TWS) in Ulukhaktok, Northwest Territories will receive $489,952 to conduct a needs assessment, engage individuals with lived experience, develop and implement Inuit-centred policies and practices for women’s shelters, and disseminate learnings to other women’s shelters; and
•Orillia Native Women’s Group will receive $328,125 to develop and implement a community consultation plan and a strategic plan to address and prevent GBV.

BACKGROUND:
•While representing about 5% of all women and girls in Canada, Indigenous women and girls accounted for 26% of all female victims of homicide in 2022. The homicide rate for Indigenous women and girls was over six times higher in 2022 than for their non-Indigenous counterparts.
•In June 2021, the 2021 Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People National Action Plan (MMIWG2S+ National Action Plan) and the Federal Pathway to Address Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People (Federal Pathway) were released.
•These plans were developed in close partnership with families and survivors, Indigenous partners, civil society, frontline service providers, municipalities, the private sector, and researchers. The experiences and knowledge shared by Indigenous leaders, partners, and communities through that process have also informed WAGE's work on the National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence.
•WAGE and Public Safety are co-leads for the human safety and security theme of the Federal Pathway. Under this theme, WAGE is leading an initiative aimed at bolstering the capacity of Indigenous women's and 2SLGBTQQIA+ organizations to provide GBV prevention programming ($55 million over 5 years).
•The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (UNDA) and the associated UNDA National Action Plan 2023-2028 were released earlier this year and WAGE continues to support these Justice-led initiatives.
•WAGE, along with our partners from provinces and territories, engage with national First Nations, Inuit, and Métis organizations through the Forum of Federal-Provincial-Territorial Ministers Responsible for the Status of Women. WAGE also works with closely with Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC) to complement our respective engagements with Indigenous partners, reduce duplication of functions, and ensure alignment of purpose, including through participation in the CIRNAC-led FPT-Indigenous roundtables on MMIWG.

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