Call to Action # 41

Why “COMPLETE”?

Although technically complete, Call to Action # 41 still has an active, ongoing MMIWG Action Plan to deliver 231 Calls to Justice that need to be tracked and reported on.

June 5, 2023: CBC released “Mother. Sister. Daughter: a MMIWG Project” tracking progress on all 231 Calls to Justice of the MMIWG Inquiry. The results: after 4 years, only 2 Calls to Justice have been completed and around 50% have not even started. See the “Mother. Sister. Daughter” section below for full details including a link to the report.

Entitled Reclaiming Power and Place, the National Inquiry’s two-volume final report released on June 3, 2019 calls for transformative legal and social changes to resolve the crisis that has devastated Indigenous communities across the country. It delivers 231 individual Calls for Justice directed at governments, institutions, social service providers, industries and all Canadians in addition to the recommendations and calls for immediate action included in the Interim Report. This Call to Action is stalled because the National Action Plan – widely panned by Indigenous leaders – has not been implemented and tracked.

June 23, 2022 – The Standing Senate Committee on Aboriginal Relations releases ” Not enough: All words and no actions on MMIWG – critique of Government’s National Action Plan

June 3, 2021 – The federal government’s MMIWG Action Plan is widely panned by a majority of Indigenous women’s advocacy groups for its lack of substantive details, timelines or budget: Ontario Native Women’s Association (not invited to participate), Québec Native Women, Union of BC Indian Chiefs, Chair in Indigenous Governance at Ryerson University, Feminist Alliance for International Action, BC Union of Indian Chiefs and Marion Bullard, former lead Commissioner of the MMIWG Inquiry  ALL find the government’s Action Plan too general and deficient in details.

June 3, 2021 – The AFN and the AFN Women’s Council released “Breathing Life into the Calls for Justice: An Action Plan to End Violence Against First Nations Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People” with recommendations in four priority areas:

• Justice: address barriers and inequalities in Canada’s justice system
• Human security: ensure equitable access to basic needs, including shelter, food, and education
• Health and wellness: provide services and programs that are culturally appropriate and trauma informed
• Culture as safety: make cultural identity a priority in all preventative, supportive, and healing activities

Other Action Plans:

• The Native Women’s Association of Canada: “Our Calls, Our Actions…The plan includes 65 costed actions to address the MMIWG Inquiry’s 231 Calls for Justice estimated to cost $30M annually.
• The Ontario Native Women’s Association released “Reconciliation with Indigenous Women: Changing the Story of MMIWG (2020)” highlighting 13 key recommendations covering 28 systems to help guide the development of the National Action Plan.