December 15, 2020 – Ottawa, Ontario
Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada and Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami are encouraged that work is underway with the Government of Canada toward the co-development of a National Action Plan to implement the Calls for Justice of the Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG).
Together, our two organizations co-chair an Inuit Working Group that is committed to delivering a comprehensive and ambitious Inuit Action Plan to the federal government by the spring of 2021. This Inuit-specific strategy will form the Inuit Chapter of the overarching National Action Plan.
Membership in the Inuit Working Group includes one representative from each of these 10 diverse organizations:
- Pauktuutit
- Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami
- Inuvialuit Regional Corporation
- Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated
- Makivik Corporation
- Nunatsiavut Government
- Family & Survivors Circle
- Urban Inuit/Tungasuvvingat Inuit
- AnânauKatiget Tumingit Regional Inuit Women’s Association
- Saturviit Inuit Women’s Association of Nunavik
Tracy Sarazin of ITK and Mary Sillett representing Pauktuutit serve as co-chairs. Representatives from Pauktuutit and ITK also sit as members of the Core Working Group, which is working to deliver the National Action Plan.
Together, Inuit representatives are working to ensure that Inuit women and girls receive the same standard of safety, health, education, and justice enjoyed by all Canadians, and the physical, emotional, economic, social and cultural security that many Canadians take for granted.
The Inuit Action Plan will address these inequities with concrete, timely and measurable systemic changes so that Inuit women and girls – as well as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex and asexual persons – achieve substantive equality.
What is the role of the MMWIG Inuit Working Group?
The role of this Working Group is to develop an Inuit Action Plan to implement the Calls to Justice of the MMIWG National Inquiry, including the 46 Inuit-specific Calls for Justice. We are working to develop a comprehensive plan that will address the needs of the families, communities and Inuit women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA persons who today live with systemic inequities that contribute to disproportionately high levels of violence. The Inuit Action Plan will form the Inuit chapter of the federal National Action Plan.
As a family member who did (or did not) testify, how am I going to be notified of the progress of the Inuit Action Plan? Will I have an opportunity to provide input?
As co-chairs of the Working Group, Pauktuutit and ITK will provide updates on the efforts to develop the Inuit Action Plan. As a family member, your story has been reflected in the recommendations of the National Inquiry’s Final Report. Members of the Inuit Working Group are now developing a comprehensive implementation strategy that supports community solutions and addresses the root causes of violence against Inuit women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA persons.
How is the Inuit Working Group providing support to families?
Your wellbeing is important to us. If you require immediate mental and emotional support, please call this independent national toll-free number: 1-844-413-6649. A counsellor is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. All calls are confidential. This service is available for you in Inuktut, English and French.
I wasn’t ready to testify and now would like to tell my story – should I contact the Inuit Working Group?
The MMIWG National Inquiry has ended and tabled a final report. It is now time for our Working Group to focus on developing an Inuit Action Plan to implement the Calls to Justice.
Far too many times we tell our story but nothing comes from it. How realistic is it that the Inuit Action Plan will be actually implemented?
All partners in this process are acting on the recommendation of the National Inquiry’s final report to co-develop a National Action Plan. We are working in good faith with each other and demanding action of accountability of government and ourselves. Our action plans must be fully resourced and include an accountability framework for the implementation of short-, medium- and long-term measures so that our progress is achievable and measurable.
