QUESTION PERIOD — Ministry of Indigenous Services
Income Support
May 7, 2026
Welcome, minister. It’s great to have you here.
The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, or TRC, highlight the role of economic injustice and inequality in the victimization and criminalization of Indigenous women and girls.
Government bills that will disproportionately criminalize those most marginalized, including Indigenous survivors of violence against women, are moving quickly through Parliament. In addition, there is an indication that there are some income supports that are supposed to be provided, one overseen by ISC and the other by Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, or CIRNAC.
What concrete steps are you taking to ensure that the income and other supports for those most marginalized are necessary to prevent those criminal law bills from exacerbating the overrepresentation of Indigenous women and girls in federal prisons?
Thank you. This is really important work that we have to look at from a multi-faceted approach. Supporting in the space of prevention is the work that we do here at ISC, ensuring that we’re able to support children at a very early age when they’re facing huge barriers and when their household is facing social issues. Supporting them through the school system, building that capacity so they feel happy, safe and secure and keeping them connected to community and their culture is all of the work within the space that we do for prevention. There is not one pathway forward.
In terms of everything that we’re seeing with murdered and missing Indigenous women, the things that are pushing forward in that space, this is really under the purview of my colleague Minister Alty, but I am here to support her in that space, along with my colleague Minister Valdez. I do feel, while there is a great challenge and issue with the level of safety in these spaces, it is not enough to just speak to that; we must do more to empower that we change that system. There has to be systemic change within the approach that we take.
There is so much more work to do. There have been decades and decades of trauma and complexity. I’m encouraged that we’re on the right path forward. Is this work we’re going to complete in 12 months? I don’t think so. This is long-standing, and we have to commit to it in a sustainable way with stability for outcomes and pushing things forward.
