MMIWG Report: Dignity and Justice Must be at the Heart of Actions

WENDAKE, QC, June 3, 2020 /CNW Telbec/ - With the first anniversary of the release of the report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG), families learned that they will still have to wait. Last week, the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, Carolyn Bennett, announced that the action plan, in response to 231 Calls for Justice, will not see the light of day this month, as promised by the government when the Report was released. The Minister blames the COVID-19 pandemic for the delay. The date for the submission of a plan is still unknown at this time.

A year ago, Prime Minister Trudeau said that the justice system had failed, that the situation was shameful and that the report marked the end of a "painful chapter in this history", that the safety and dignity of Indigenous women and girls are frequently threatened, that it is unacceptable that their human rights are constantly and systematically violated and, above all, that "this must stop".

"Even today, our peoples, more specifically Indigenous women, remain the most vulnerable before the justice system. The complaint filed by Quebec Native Women before the CDPDJ (Commission de droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse) against the Service de Police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM), following the treatment recently suffered by a First Nations woman, confirms the urgency to act, once again. We only need to look around us to see that discrimination and racism go hand in hand with the services that should ensure our safety," said Ghislain Picard, Chief of the AFNQL.

"The tragedy has gone on long enough. The federal government will have to be diligent in this matter where our families' patience has been stretched to the limit. For Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA people to live in dignity, measures will have to be draconian with adequate and appropriate means. Actions must follow words, otherwise our mothers, daughters, sisters, and friends will never be protected. Let's hope that this will not be the case," concluded Chief Adrienne Jérôme, AFNQL's elected women's spokesperson.

About the AFNQL
The Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador is the regional political organization that brings together 43 First Nations Chiefs in Quebec and Labrador. Follow the AFNQL on Twitter @APNQL.

SOURCE Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador