OTTAWA – Today, two years after the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) released its final report, the Green Party of Canada is urging the federal government to act immediately on implementing the report’s 200 calls to justice.
The MMIWG report cited persistent and deliberate human and Indigenous rights violations and abuses as the root causes behind Canada’s shocking rates of violence against Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA people.
“Greens were cautiously optimistic that timely action would be taken when the report was initially released, but the government has been dragging its feet on implementation ever since, and that’s unacceptable,” said Green Party Leader Annamie Paul. “Earlier this year we called on Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett to move swiftly on implementing the promised action plan, which had been delayed yet again. We were also disappointed that this year’s federal budget, the first since the inquiry’s final report, neglected to provide a clear action plan to address ending violence against Indigenous women and girls.
Recently released data from Statistics Canada show that Indigenous women face disproportionate levels of violence. More than six in 10 (63 per cent) have been physically or sexually assaulted at some point since the age of 15, compared with more than four in 10 non-Indigenous women. This violence includes acts that were committed within and outside intimate partner relationships.
Ms. Paul pointed out that the pandemic has exacerbated violence against women. Last month’s report from the Canadian Femicide Observatory for Justice and Accountability cited 160 women and girls as victims of femicide in Canada in 2020; one in five were Indigenous women and girls.
“These are mothers, daughters, sisters, aunties, nieces, cousins and friends whose lives were violently cut short,” said Ms. Paul. “There needs to be a complete shift at all levels of government and in Canada’s public institutions so that they can truly address the systemic racism that continues to traumatise Indigenous communities in our society. For Canada’s missing and murdered First Nations, Métis and Inuit women it cannot come soon enough.”
A Green government will re-introduce legislation to implement the calls to action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and calls to justice from the Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.
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For more information or to arrange an interview:
Rosie Emery
Press Secretary
613-562-4916x206