Government of Alberta: A new Premier’s council will guide Alberta’s action in response to the National Inquiry on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG).

The Premier’s Council on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG Council) will report to the Premier on government action and identify the gaps that need to be addressed to eliminate violence against Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual (2S+) and other gender-diverse people. The MMIWG Council will include Indigenous women and have a five-year mandate.

The new Alberta MMIWG Roadmap will guide the MMIWG Council’s work with government. The MMIWG Roadmap lays out four pathways for action:

• Community connections, healing and cultural supports
• Education, economic independence and infrastructure
• Community wellness and improving the justice system
• Accountability to and inclusion of Indigenous women and girls

Alberta’s four pathways address the root causes of violence identified by the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and align with recommendations in the final report of the Alberta Joint Working Group on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

The Alberta MMIWG Roadmap will guide the development and implementation of further actions in response to the joint working group’s recommendations.

“After listening to the voices of family members and conducting a thorough review of what is currently happening within government departments and by stakeholders, we presented 113 Pathways to Justice: Recommended Actions of the Alberta Joint Working Group on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. As the Joint Working Group was made up of Indigenous women, Elders and members of the legislative assembly, the resulting recommendations have been developed using a diverse lens and expansive scope. Today, with the announcement of the Premier’s Council and a roadmap, Alberta will now have a mechanism to assist with implementation of systemic changes required to ensure the safety of Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people.”

Rachelle Venne, former co-chair of the Alberta Joint Working Group on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls

Current actions

Alberta’s government provided more than $1 million in grants to support a range of approaches to help stem the ongoing crisis of violence against Indigenous women, girls and 2S+ people, including:

• Improving the functionality of the Aboriginal Alert system across multiple platforms, building partnerships with law enforcement agencies and increasing public awareness of the service.
• Providing programming to Indigenous girls and gender-diverse youth aged 15 to 21 to help end the normalization of violence.
• Supporting community gatherings, healing circles and improved coordination with law enforcement and other emergency response agencies.

Enacting legislation modelled after Clare’s Law, creating a Public Safety Indigenous Advisory Committee and funding more Indigenous learner spaces at post-secondary schools are a few more steps Alberta’s government has already taken to increase safety and economic opportunity, but more work needs to be done.

In addition, the Institute for the Advancement of Aboriginal Women (IAAW) received almost $900,000 to support programs to help Indigenous women find jobs, security and success in Alberta’s workforce – another important safety measure for women.