The federal government has admitted that a national action plan relating to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) won’t be ready by June, and the president of Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada is “very disappointed.”
photo courtesy of Pauktuutit
“Victims’ families participated in the (MMIWG) inquiry in good faith and with a great deal of pain. They need to know that their testimony was heard and valued and that it has led to positive change,” said Rebecca Kudloo.
The Government of Canada had aimed to release the action plan next month because it would mark one year since the final report of the MMIWG national inquiry. However, Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett told CBC News that Covid-19 has impeded progress on responding to the report’s 231 recommendations. There is no new target date for delivering the action plan.
Kudloo said Pauktuutit was responsible for some of the final report’s recommendations and the organization continues to advocate for better safety and security for Inuit women and children. That includes a demand that the federal government invest $20 million to construct five emergency shelters and transition housing units in Inuit Nunangat and Ottawa that are “desperately needed.”
“The Covid‐19 pandemic has put Inuit women and girls in Inuit Nunangat and in urban centres at even greater risk of violence and exploitation. It is critical that the national action plan is delivered this year,” Kudloo stated.