It has now been four years since the Final Report from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls was released.
Of the 231 Calls for Justice it brought forward, Ottawa took action to partially address 104 last year, according to their annual progress report.
That work saw them advance work on 30 new community safety plans and 22 shelter projects which will result in 178 new units by 2026.
Funding was provided for over 1,000 Indigenous language projects, and 54 projects to support Indigenous authority over child and family services.
2023 also saw the development of new health and wellness programs, racism and gender-based violence strategies, and more.
But many survivors and families still feel as though the Calls may just be shelved without concrete action, similar to other government reports.
That was just one concern brought up among attendees of an Assembly of First Nations gathering held to discuss the progress to date.
They feel that more needs to be done to address systemic racism, industry accountability, on-going policing challenges, and a lack of culturally-based solutions.
You can read the AFN’s Collecting Hearts and Making Change report at this link, and Ottawa’s Progress report at this link.
Meanwhile, BC is providing an additional $5.5 million to support efforts to reduce violence against Indigenous women, girls, and gender diverse people.
Funding will be put towards community safety planning and capacity building, through the Path Forward Community Fund.
That builds on an initial funding injection of $5.3 million made last year, which has helped support 33 Indigenous-led projects to date.
A progress report was released alongside the funding announcement, highlighting the efforts made to address the on-going crisis so far.
It includes child care supports, consent agreements with the Tahltan Central Government, the Highway 16 Action Plan, BC Bus North, the Indigenous Justice Framework, and more.
Comments