Category: Press Release

Ottawa, ON – The National Action Plan and Federal Pathway on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls is not an adequate response to the crisis of murders and disappearances, and the ongoing genocide against Indigenous women and girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people that was identified by the National Inquiry. This is the conclusion of a number of Indigenous women experts, grassroots groups and organizations who work with Indigenous families, survivors and communities. They have grave concerns about the immediate health, safety and well-being of Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people.

The final report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls issued 231 Calls for Justice to be included in a National Action Plan to end genocide that would be grounded in Canada’s domestic and international human rights and Indigenous rights obligations. Co-ordination across jurisdictions was understood by the Inquiry to be a critical part of any Plan moving forward. 

The Plan entitled: 2021 National Action Plan: Ending Violence against Indigenous Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People, drafted by a working group of selected Indigenous organizations and government officials, sets out a vision, goals, and immediate next steps. This plan does not answer how to keep Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people safe, with no specific information about how, when and by whom concrete actions will be taken. Nowhere in the document do governments acknowledge and accept responsibility for the laws, policies, and practices that contribute to, and perpetuate, the ongoing genocide of Indigenous peoples, and specifically of Indigenous women, girls 2SLGBTQQIA+ people.

Indigenous women, communities, families, survivors, experts and allies have worked for decades to shine a light on this crisis and demand accountability for the murders and disappearances by governments and institutions. There would never have been a National Inquiry were it not for their determined advocacy. Canada’s failure to create a proper plan to end genocide does not fall on those groups who provided input into the plan. 

This comes at a specifically difficult time for many Indigenous women and families who are also residential school survivors. The discovery of the mass grave of 215 children represents an incomprehensible trauma to the Secwépemc peoples, survivors and communities across the country who have long known about other unmarked and mass graves. This is why Canada was found guilty of historic and ongoing genocide of Indigenous peoples that has led to high rates of violence against Indigenous women and girls today. This is yet another reason why Canada must take concrete steps to end the genocide and all forms of harm.

The National Action Plan, together with the Federal Pathway document, are together extremely disappointing because it does not provide the comprehensive, system-wide, inter-governmental plan that is needed to end genocide. There is no commitment for urgent emergency services to prevent the abuse, exploitation, disappearances and murders of Indigenous women and girls; nor is there a monitoring mechanism – independent of the government of Canada – to monitor the urgent end to genocide.

“With this document, Canada has once again dismissed the stories and voices of thousands of Indigenous women, survivors, and families and shown its willingness to be complicit as we continue to go missing and be murdered. We call for immediate action and full implementation of the Calls for Justice and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.”

Kukpi7 Judy Wilson, Secretary-Treasurer of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs

“Considering that there is no coordination between the different levels of government, we ask ourselves what is the use of this work?”

Viviane Michel, President, Quebec Native Women

“The Nation-to-Nation process continues to marginalize and alienate Indigenous women and the representatives of their choice from substantive legal, policy and economic decision-making and governance over their own lives.”

Dr. Dawn Lavell-Harvard, President, Ontario Native Women’s Association

“The Plan and Pathway do not make expedited registration of First Nations women and their descendants an urgent priority. There are thousands of women and their descendants who are now entitled to status. They need to be registered to end the discrimination they have suffered for decades. It is long past time to restore First Nations women to their rightful place in their communities and nation.”

Sharon McIvor, Feminist Alliance for International Action

“I am pleased to see that intersectionality was included as a guiding principle in the Plan and that it recognizes the higher rates of victimization for Indigenous women and girls who have disabilities; but I don’t see a plan address this lived reality.”

Dr. Lynn Gehl

“This is not a national action plan. A national action plan defines concrete actions that will be taken and assigns responsibility, resources and timelines for implementing them. This ‘Plan’ does none of that.”

Shelagh Day, Chair, Human Rights Committee, Feminist Alliance for International Action

“Canada is a state perpetrator of genocide which specifically targets Indigenous women and girls for violence, exploitation, dispossession and oppression. Its failure to accept full responsibility for genocide and outline a plan to end it on an urgent, national basis puts the lives of Indigenous women and girls at grave risk.”

Dr. Pamela Palmater, Chair in Indigenous Governance, Ryerson University

Indigenous women, in collaboration with communities, families, survivors, advocates and allies, will continue to push Canada to take urgent action and be accountable to end genocide.

Contact information:

• ONWA: Andre Morriseau, Communications Manager amorriseau@onwa.ca
• QNW: Doreen Petiquay-Barthold, Communications communications@faq-qnw.org
• UBCIC: Kukpi7 Judy Wilson, Secretary-Treasurer (778) 866-0548
• FAFIA: Shelagh Day, shelagh.day@gmail.com
• Sharon McIvor, (250) 378-7479
• Dr. Lynn Gehl, lynngehl@gmail.com
• Dr. Pamela Palmater, ppalmater@ryerson.ca

(SIPEKNE’KATIK, FN) — The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) has called on Canada to investigate acts of violence against Mi’kmaw fishers and protect them from further violence, while also taking steps to respect and protect the Mi’kmaw right to fish.

A team of Mi’kmaw advocates, together with Justice for Girls – a human rights organization – worked with Sipekne’katik fishers to make a formal submission under UN CERD’s Early Warning and Urgent Action Procedure, when it was clear that federal and provincial governments and local law enforcement would not respect Mi’kmaw fishing rights or protect Mi’kmaw fishers from racist acts of violence.

Mi’kmaw lawyers Rosalie Francis (Sipekne’katik), Pamela Palmater (Ugpi’ganjig) and Alisa Lombard, together with Justice for Girls human rights experts Zoe Craig-Sparrow (Musqueam), Sue Brown and Annabel Webb from Justice for Girls authored the submission on behalf of the Sipekne’katik Mi’kmaw fishers: Randy Sack, Jason Marr, Robert Syliboy, Terrance Augustine, Ron Augustine and Cheryl Maloney, as well as the Mi’kmaq at Sipekne’katik, supported by Sipekne’katik Chief Mike Sack and Council. The submission laid out the evidence of Canada’s serious human rights violations of Mi’kmaw peoples who hold inherent, Aboriginal, and treaty rights and self-governing powers in relation to the fishery in Mi’kma’ki.

After considering the evidence presented by the team which detailed the escalating racist hate speech, violence, firearms, intimidation, the burning and destruction of Mi’kmaw property, including lobster traps, lobster processing facilities and work vehicles; CERD called on Canada to:

1. investigate the alleged racist acts of violence against Mi’kmaw peoples;
2. Investigate the alleged lack of response by Canada to protect Mi’kmaw from violence;
3. Prevent further acts of violence; and
4. Respect, protect and guarantee the fishing rights of Mi’kmaw peoples including repealing any laws that infringe those rights.

Jason Marr, one of the Mi’kmaw fishers explained: “As I watched my fish plant being destroyed by angry mobs, and police standing by, I felt that there was no respect or protection for the Indigenous Peoples of this country. I feel grateful that the International community is aware and watching Canada, as we continue our efforts to regain our ability to feed our families and communities by making a living off our lands and waters”.

Cheryl Maloney, another Mi’kmaw fisher said: “I was on the water with my community on launch day and experienced being surrounded by hundreds of hostile commercial fishers, I prayed and honestly believed that Canada would step up and help. That was not the case and is the reason we reached out to the United Nations. We are really thankful that the UN has called on Canada to protect our people.”

Pamela Palmater, Mi’kmaw lawyer and co-author of the submission stated: “We all appreciate this important intervention from UN CERD calling on Canada to respect Mi’kmaw rights and protect our peoples from violence. It is shameful that we had to seek international intervention, but Canada’s racist laws, policies and practices continue to breach our basic human rights and our inherent Mi’kmaw rights to our lands, waters and fishery. We have a right to govern ourselves which is continually denied by all levels of government. This has resulted in generations of violence, criminalization and extreme poverty of Mi’kmaw peoples. This has to end and we hope CERD’s intervention will be a wake up call for Canada.”

Chief Mike Sack on behalf of Sipekne’katik said: “We are proud of the resiliency and ingenuity of our community members, and in particular the team responsible for the submission to the United Nations.” Chief Sack added, “while under siege and with very few resources they were able to move through the necessary international channels to advance this process in defence of our peoples.”

UN CERD letter

View a complete copy of the UN CERD letter of notice.