QUESTION PERIOD — Ministry of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls
November 26, 2024
Welcome, minister. Minister, it has been over five years since the release of The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. Each year since I became the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, I have asked your government what progress has been made on bringing justice to the families of these missing and murdered mothers, daughters and sisters. There has never been an adequate response to any of my questions. These families want to know what happened to their loved ones, minister, and they deserve answers.
Minister, how many of these cases have been resolved by the RCMP? How many arrests have been made? How many charges have been laid and how many convictions?
Thank you, senator, for the question. Let me preface my answer by saying that the issues around missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, or MMIWG, and Two-Spirit individuals are a national crisis. Since taking office in 2015, we have been working toward addressing the underlying issues around MMIWG. As you know, we called for a national inquiry, and the 231 Calls for Justice were received, and we have been implementing those Calls for Justice.
We have been working towards a proactive manner in order to ensure that future cases involving missing women, girls and Two-Spirit individuals don’t continue; as a result, we have built shelters specifically focused on Indigenous women. We are supporting front-line Indigenous victim services. Thirty-six Indigenous-led policing services have been implemented, and 12 new cell towers have been installed along the “Highway of Tears” in B.C.
Earlier this year, we have initiated a pilot project on what is called a Red Dress Alert that is meant to alert local communities when someone goes missing — an Indigenous woman, girl or a Two-Spirit individual. We are implementing this in Manitoba, and we hope to expand this across the country.
Last year, when I asked this very same question to former Minister of Public Safety Marco Mendicino, I was told and assured your government would provide the latest update to my questions. As of today, I have received no response to those questions, similar to what I just received today. Sadly, this is no surprise from this soft-on-crime government.
Minister, why can’t the NDP-Liberals treat victims of crime and their families with respect?
Thank you, senator. I wish to highlight that this should be a non-partisan issue. The issue around missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and Two-Spirit individuals is a deeply troubling issue across Canada, and one that I think should have non-partisan support.
I would like to highlight that, as a government, we did call for a national inquiry. We are implementing the MMIWG report. We have received it. There are 231 specific Calls for Justice that we’re working on. Some of them are quite complex, but at the end of the day, it is about ensuring that the conditions are there for Indigenous women to be safe in their communities. That is the work that we will continue to do.
