{"id":38672,"date":"2020-06-05T06:44:00","date_gmt":"2020-06-05T10:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/?p=38672"},"modified":"2020-06-04T20:22:02","modified_gmt":"2020-06-05T00:22:02","slug":"report-of-the-national-inquiry-on-mmiw-one-year-later-wheres-the-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/story\/38672\/report-of-the-national-inquiry-on-mmiw-one-year-later-wheres-the-action\/","title":{"rendered":"Report of the National Inquiry on MMIWG: One year later, where\u2019s the action?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large  caption-style-blue-overlay caption-alignment-center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"683\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-canada-stateless\/2020\/06\/ed42d5a3-gp0str8xd-683x1024.jpg\" title=\"Tiny House Warriors in Canada Install Solar Panels. \u00a9 Zack Embree \/ Greenpeace\" alt=\"Tiny House Warriors in Canada Install Solar Panels. \u00a9 Zack Embree \/ Greenpeace\" class=\"wp-image-38674\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-canada-stateless\/2020\/06\/ed42d5a3-gp0str8xd-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-canada-stateless\/2020\/06\/ed42d5a3-gp0str8xd-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-canada-stateless\/2020\/06\/ed42d5a3-gp0str8xd-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-canada-stateless\/2020\/06\/ed42d5a3-gp0str8xd-227x340.jpg 227w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-canada-stateless\/2020\/06\/ed42d5a3-gp0str8xd.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px\" \/><figcaption>Kanahus (R) and Mayuk (L) Manuel, of the Tiny House Warriors, and Melina Laboucan-Massimo of Lubicon Solar (C) holding a red dress, a symbol of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG). <div class=\"credit icon-left\"> \u00a9 Zack Embree \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n<p>A year ago this week, the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls launched a report that provided not just recommendations for the federal government, but legal imperatives \u2014 including measures to be taken as soon as possible to stop violence against Indigenous, M\u00e9tis and Inuit women, girls and women.<\/p>\n\n<p>The thousands of stories that gave life to the report underscored the fact that the colonial and current acts of violence against Indigenous Peoples amounts to a race-based genocide. \u201c<em>The Canadian state has displaced Indigenous women and 2SLGBTQQIA people from their traditional roles in governance and leadership and continues to violate their political rights. This has been done through concerted efforts to destroy and replace Indigenous governance systems with colonial and patriarchal governance models\u201d<\/em>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mmiwg-ffada.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Executive_Summary.pdf\">notes the report<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n<p>These attacks on Indigenous women are not just a distant legacy; they are still deeply entrenched in the Canadian system, reproducing patterns of oppression.<\/p>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Where are we now?<\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Chantel, a member of the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation was tragically killed by police in New Brunswick last night, one the 1 year anniversary of <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/MMIW?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#MMIW<\/a> report. Please donate to support her family\u2019s travel and funeral expenses <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/U28Gxlgac8\">https:\/\/t.co\/U28Gxlgac8<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Alana Sayers (@sockeyesayers) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/sockeyesayers\/status\/1268658692775264256?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 4, 2020<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n<p>The federal government&#8217;s action plan on MMIWG was supposed to propose concrete measures to remedy this systemic discrimination and violence. That was a year ago. Where are we today?\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<p>Despite a year\u2019s worth of promises, the Trudeau government <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/politics\/stefanovich-mmiwg-action-plan-delay-1.5583585\">delayed<\/a> its national action because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He did so mere days before nationwide protests against the deaths of unarmed Black people at the hands of police forced him to admit Canada needs <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/politics\/trudeau-anti-black-racism-1.5593395\">to do more<\/a> to tackle systemic racism.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<p>So which is it \u2014 more action, or less?<\/p>\n\n<p>The COVID-19 pandemic is no excuse to let racism slide. According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nwac.ca\/resource\/the-impacts-of-covid-19-on-indigenous-women-and-gender-diverse-people-in-canada\/\">a study<\/a> by the Native Women&#8217;s Association of Canada, Indigenous&nbsp;women have reported increasing instances of violence under quarantine:&nbsp; in May 2020, 17% of Indigenous women reported experiencing violence (physical or psychological) in the past three months, compared to 10% in 2014 who reported experiencing violence in the past five years. This study is further proof that Indigenous women need immediate action to stop violence.<\/p>\n\n<p>Yet here we are, still no action, and a context even more fraught with worry.<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">&quot;We cannot afford to wait any longer. Cannot have any more blood on our hands, lose any more loved ones.&quot;<br>N.W.T. MLA says she&#39;s &#39;insulted&#39; by lack of MMIWG action plan | CBC News <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/5AV9IAcbcL\">https:\/\/t.co\/5AV9IAcbcL<\/a><\/p>&mdash; NWAC (@NWAC_CA) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NWAC_CA\/status\/1268621073236422656?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 4, 2020<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><figcaption><br><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n<p>\u201cUsing COVID-19 as an excuse for delaying a national action plan \u2014 to me \u2014 is really like saying, well, the dog ate my homework,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/politics\/stefanovich-mmiwg-action-plan-delay-1.5583585\">said the National Inquiry\u2019s former commissioner<\/a> Marion Buller.<\/p>\n\n<p>Lorraine Whitman of the Native Women\u2019s Association of Canada (NWAC<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nwac.ca\/speaking-notes-for-lorraine-whitman-president-native-womens-association-of-canada\/\">) also voiced her frustration<\/a>, saying that Ottawa \u201chad nine months before the pandemic hit to reach out to us and other Indigenous groups. But I can tell you that NWAC did not hear much from them during that time.&nbsp; Saying the pandemic is standing in the way of a National Action Plan is a double slap in the face to Indigenous women who are living in even greater fear of violence because of the isolation brought by the disease.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<p>The recommendations of the National Inquiry report are calls to justice. You can read them (starting on page 62) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mmiwg-ffada.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Executive_Summary.pdf\">in the Executive Summary here<\/a>. Thanks to the testimonies of the families of the murdered and missing women, it was possible to bring to the government&#8217;s attention to four key areas for action: the right to culture, the right to health, the right to security and the right to justice. Within these categories are the imperatives to: address disproportionate rates of poverty among Aboriginal women; increase access to safe housing; provide Indigenous women with quality health care; and increase the responsiveness, transparency, and accountability of police services.<\/p>\n\n<p>On Wednesday, the anniversary of the report, the NWAC gave Ottawa\u2019s response <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/politics\/stefanovich-nwac-mmiwg-inquiry-one-year-anniversary-1.5596172\">a failing grade<\/a> in these four areas, which are considered essential, priority areas for action by Indigenous families and women&#8217;s movements in order to end violence against Indigenous, M\u00e9tis and Inuit women in Canada.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">NWAC is committed to working w\/ the Gov to produce a <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/MMIWG?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#MMIWG<\/a> plan. We\u2019ve provided them these steps: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/qvEscgByNf\">https:\/\/t.co\/qvEscgByNf<\/a><br><br>1) Release the National Action Plan on June 3rd as promised (Call for Justice 1). As this clearly hasn\u2019t been met, we now ask for a new CONCRETE deadline.<\/p>&mdash; NWAC (@NWAC_CA) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NWAC_CA\/status\/1268564447121100802?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 4, 2020<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><figcaption><br><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Violence against the land is violence against women<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n<p><em>The truth is that colonization has not ended \u2026&nbsp; a lot of people think of colonization as something that\u2019s in the past. There\u2019s a lot of forms of colonization and what we could call neo-colonialism. And the form I\u2019m most familiar with is resource extraction. What is neocolonialism? It\u2019s the continual encroachment on traditional territories through resource extraction and exploitation.<\/em><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right\">&#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/212154255\">Melina Laboucan-Massimo<\/a><\/p>\n\n<p><em>We are not going to let the old boys\u2019 club and rich people around the world continue to control and destroy the planet \u2026 Today we see a movement happening in our indigenous nations, that it is the women who are standing up \u2026 Indigenous women have initiated the healing from the violence of colonialism. It is through this healing that the women found their voice to stand up to our oppressors, against state and extractive industries.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right\"><a href=\"https:\/\/minorityrights.org\/canada-some-people-say\/\">-Kanahus Manuel<\/a><\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-twitter aligncenter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">3 white drunk males bring violence to our home, smashed through front entrance barricades, stole my truck, smashed it into the Elk Tiny House and then smashed truck into light pole, assaulted Indigenous male and then fled. The white male kneeling down is the one that stole truck <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ElG8mZpDcm\">pic.twitter.com\/ElG8mZpDcm<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Kanahus Manuel (@KanahusFreedom) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KanahusFreedom\/status\/1252256092274348034?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 20, 2020<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><figcaption><em><sub>Kanahus Manuel is a leader with the Tiny House Warriors, an Indigenous group resisting the Trans Mountain Expansion tar sands pipeline, planned to cross Indigenous Secwepemc territory without consent. The Tiny House Warriors are occupying their land with tiny houses in an ongoing land defence.<br><\/sub><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n<p>Indigenous women have been telling us for decades that violence against the land in the form of resource extraction is <a href=\"https:\/\/thenarwhal.ca\/violence-against-land-begets-violence-against-women\/\">linked to violence against women<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<p>In fact, the report of the National Inquiry does a deep dive into the issues and outlines a call to justice stating, <em>\u201cWe call upon the federal, provincial, and territorial governments to fund further inquiries and studies in order to better understand the relationship between resource extraction and other development projects and violence against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n<p><strong>If you\u2019re involved in the fight against environmental destruction, get involved in supporting Indigenous women, too.  Tell Prime Minister Trudeau to urgently move the national action plan forward. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mmiwg-ffada.ca\/sacred_mmiwg-ffada_sacrees-2\/\">Read up, skill up, act.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A year ago this week, the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls launched its report. Where are we now?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":38674,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"p4_og_title":"","p4_og_description":"","p4_og_image":"","p4_og_image_id":"","p4_seo_canonical_url":"","p4_campaign_name":"not set","p4_local_project":"not set","p4_basket_name":"not set","p4_department":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[29,32],"p4-page-type":[16],"class_list":["post-38672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-climate","tag-indigenous","tag-oil","p4-page-type-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38672"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38672\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38717,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38672\/revisions\/38717"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38672"},{"taxonomy":"p4-page-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/p4-page-type?post=38672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}