Question Period Note: MMIWG and 2SLGBTQI+ People

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

•Violence against Indigenous women and girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people in Canada is an ongoing national tragedy.
•The National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence and the Federal 2SLGBTQI+ Action Plan are complementary to the 2021 Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ National Action Plan and the corresponding Federal Pathway.
•Budget 2021 provided $55 million over 5 years for Women and Gender Equality Canada to increase the capacity of Indigenous women and 2SLGBTQI+ organizations.
•This investment has supported over 100 First Nations, Inuit, and Métis organizations in providing gender-based violence prevention programming aimed at addressing the root causes of violence against Indigenous women and girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people.

Investment
•Since 2015, the Department has funded over 570 projects, providing approximately $245.3M to initiatives supporting Indigenous and Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and asexual (2SLGBTQQIA+) communities, representing 35% of all WAGE investments (data excludes COVID funding).
•WAGE further increased its work to support Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ 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 2SLGBTQI+ people.
•Budget 2021 provided $55M to WAGE over 5 years to increase the capacity of Indigenous women and 2SLGBTQI+ organizations to provide gender-based violence prevention programming aimed at addressing the root causes of violence against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people.

Results
•A Call for Proposals to implement the Budget 2021 investment of $55M closed in March 2022. Over 100 First Nations, Métis, and Inuit organizations are receiving funding through this initiative. 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.
•In January 2023, the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations convened the first ever Indigenous-Federal-Provincial-Territorial Roundtable on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ to have an national dialogue on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, (MMIWG) and 2SLGBTQI+ people, with a focus on how to improve cross jurisdictional collaboration, discuss areas of success, highlight areas of future focus related to MMIWG, including the perspectives from Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people, family members and survivors. A second convening of the Indigenous-Federal-Provincial-Territorial Roundtable took place on February 7-8, 2024. A third meeting is planned for early 2025.

Project examples
•Les Femmes Michif Otipemisiwak received $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 received $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 received $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 the development of the National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence, particularly Pillar 4 - Indigenous-led Approaches.
•WAGE and Public Safety are co-leads for the human safety and security theme of the MMIWG Federal Pathway. Under this theme, WAGE is leading an initiative aimed at increasing the capacity of Indigenous women's and 2SLGBTQI+ organizations to provide GBV prevention programming ($55 million over 5 years, starting in 2021-22).
•The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (UNDA) and the associated UNDA National Action Plan 2023-2028 were released in 2023 and WAGE continues to support these Justice-led initiatives.
•WAGE, along with partners from the 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 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 Indigenous-FPT roundtables on MMIWG2S+.

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