OTTAWA—Carol Hughes, MP for Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing (AMK) along with the Anishinabek Nation and the Chiefs of Ontario are all in support of the House of Commons supporting a motion last week declaring the deaths and disappearances of Indigenous women and girls a Canada-wide emergency and calls for funding for a new system to alert the public when someone goes missing.
“This could go a long way to finding these women before they are murdered or reported as being missing for a long time,” stated MP Hughes. “Yes, I was definitely in support of this motion.”
“Indigenous women continue to be subjected to violence and the number of those who never return to their families continues to rise,” said Anishinabek Nation Grand Council Chief Reg Niganobe. “MMIWG2S+ is a crucial priority for the Anishinabek Nation as it is for other Indigenous nations and communities across the continent.”
Grand Council Chief Niganobe recently wrote to the federal and provincial governments to raise concerns and support the creation of an interagency Red Dress Alert system. From the onset of an issued report, this alert system will make a crucial difference in response times and coordinate collaborative efforts between various police forces, health organizations, and Indigenous nations.”
On May 2, an NDP motion calling on the federal government to recognize the ongoing genocide of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people (MMIWG2S+) crisis as a Canada-wide emergency was adopted unanimously by all parties in the House of Commons. The motion was tabled by NDP critic for Women and Gender Equality Leah Gazan (Winnipeg Centre) to urge the federal government to deliver immediate and substantial investment, including a Red Dress Alert system to notify the public when an Indigenous woman, girl or two-spirit person goes missing. It also calls on the government to reverse the planned $150 million cut in funding for women’s shelters and invest in building more transitional housing and shelters for victims of gender-based violence. In addition, there was a take-note debate that lasted until midnight May 2, on the Red Dress Alert given that murders and disappearances of aboriginal women, girls and two-spirited people is a “pan-Canadian emergency.”
“Less than a week ago, the remains of an Indigenous child (eight years old) were found in the Cree Nation of Samson, Maskwacis, Alberta,” said MP Hughes.
“I am pleased that all parties recognize the urgency of this ongoing genocide,” said Ms. Gazan. “I support relatives of lost loved ones, human rights advocates and survivors who are calling on this government to take action to end this unrelenting violence. We are not disposable, our lives are precious, and we deserve justice.”
Ms. Gazan told Canadian Press following the vote, “the truth is the truth. It’s one thing to acknowledge the truth, it’s another thing to act on it.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said advancing reconciliation with Indigenous people is one of his top priorities since forming government in 2015. In 2019, he accepted the findings of a national inquiry into murdered and missing indigenous women and girls, which said the crisis amounted to a genocide.
Prime Minister Trudeau has since been criticized by groups such as the Native Women’s Association of Canada for failing to deliver on his commitments to fulfill the many recommendations directed at the federal government.
Statistics show Indigenous women continue to disappear and to be the victims of violence at a higher rate, twelve times more than non-Indigenous women.
MP Galan says now that this motion has passed, the government must show they’re serious about ending violence against Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people by reversing their decision to cut $150 million for women’s shelters and investing in a Red Dress alert. “Families and communities have waited far too long for this federal government to act. Now that the Liberals recognize this violence as a Canada-wide emergency, they need to speed up their delivery of resources and funding to stop it.” She explained the public alert system would send a notification to phones, televisions and radios when an Indigenous woman disappears, and her vision is that it would work like an Amber Alert, which is an emergency notification that goes out when a child is missing and believed to be in danger.
“Supporting the growth of these projects and initiatives will save lives and ensure the protection of our future generations,” said Grand Council Chief Niganobe. “This action is also part of the Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.”
The full text of the motion adopted states, “That, given that: (i) on October 27, 2022, the House unanimously recognized that what happened in residential schools was genocide, (ii) the decades of insufficient action from all levels of government have failed to address the effects of this genocide, including the crisis of violence against Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people with the urgency it deserves. (iii) Families in Winnipeg and throughout the country continue to experience the tragic loss of a loved one to this crisis,” the House call on the government to (a) declare the continued loss of Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people a Canada-wide emergency, and (b) provide immediate and substantial investment, including in a Red Dress Alert System, to help alert the public when an Indigenous woman, girl or two-spirit person goes missing.”
