Good morning, committee members.
[Witness speaks in Ojibwe]
I'm here today on behalf of the chiefs in Ontario. I thank you for the invitation to appear before you on this important matter.
I'll begin by making some general comments on the issue of violence against indigenous women. As you know, first nations women are the most at risk group in Canada for issues related to violence. This situation, however, was not the case pre-contact, when our nations were healthy and our cultures were practised without interference. Our women enjoyed incomparable respect and even reverence from their families and from their nations. For example, the Haudenosaunee maintained a system of governance whereby the women held unprecedented political and social powers. They owned all the property of their nations. They maintained their own political councils in a clan system and had the power to remove their chiefs from office if they failed in their duties. Everyone had specific responsibilities to their families, to their nations, and to the Creator. Interwoven with these responsibilities was an essential principle that our collective existence depends upon our ability to demonstrate respect and to provide safety and security for the women of our nation.
It's important to point out how things were in the past in order to understand the full horror of the context in which we, and in particular our women, now live. Research has shown the alarming rates of violence experienced by aboriginal women within Ontario and that they are being targeted based on their ethnicity and gender. I believe these facts illustrate the deeply ingrained discrimination and broadly held racism in Canadian society that first nations women endure every day.
With the recent endorsement of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Canada should now be taking concrete actions to address its shameful record in upholding the rights of indigenous peoples. Such action should be based largely on the recommendations provided to Canada by indigenous peoples themselves. The problem of violence against indigenous women is reflective of Canada's failure to meet the minimum human rights standards of indigenous peoples.
I will remind you of article 22.2 of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which states:
States shall take measures, in conjunction with indigenous peoples, to ensure that indigenous women and children enjoy the full protection and guarantees against all forms of violence and discrimination.
Article 23 of the UN declaration states:
...indigenous peoples have the right to be actively involved in developing and determining health, housing and other economic and social programmes affecting them and, as far as possible, to administer such programmes through their own institutions.
Again, unfortunately, the standard is far from being met within the province of Ontario. As the aboriginal healing and wellness strategy points out, there are only nine women's shelters within Ontario--where 133 first nations communities are located--that provide culturally relevant programming for first nations women and their families. In areas such as Manitoulin Island, only one women's shelter is available to service over 50 communities, including seven first nations communities. Programs and services should be developed at or with direct input from the first nations community level and should be funded based on need. This may seem like a difficult task, given the number of indigenous communities within the province, but it's necessary in order to respect the diversity of our communities.
With regard to missing and murdered first nations women, the large number of cases in Ontario illustrates that this issue is of national concern and should not be thought of as an isolated occurrence in the west. The most alarming outcome of recently gathered information by the Native Women's Association of Canada indicates there are higher rates of murder cases in Ontario than the national average.
In 2005 the Native Women's Association of Canada started the initiative, Sisters in Spirit, to address and raise awareness about the high number of cases of murdered and missing aboriginal women in Canada. The Sisters in Spirit initiative was mandated to conduct research and raise public awareness of the higher rates of violence against first nations women and girls. Sadly, in October of last year, the Government of Canada denied the renewal of funding for this initiative. Instead, an announcement was made that $10 million would be committed over two years to improve community safety and to ensure that the justice system and law enforcement agencies can better respond to cases of missing and murdered aboriginal women. This funding is not specific to first nations women and girls or programs and services in Canada. Instead, the money will go to law enforcement agencies that have no knowledge or capacity to address either the issue or the victims and their families in a culturally sensitive manner.
Further, the new federal program excludes Ontario first nations from accessing funding. The problem of violence against indigenous women is an issue of considerable complexity. Colonization has forced foreign ways of living on our people. As noted by the Native Women's Association of Canada, “Colonization remains the constant thread connecting the different forms of violence against Aboriginal women and girls in Canada.”
The traditional and life-affirming roles of our men and women have been forgotten or lost. The basic foundations of our culture have been destroyed and replaced. Generational grief, widely unrecognized and unaddressed, continues the process of erosion of our healthy family structures. In order to address the issue of violence, one must understand the history and impact of colonization on first nations people in Canada. There is much work to be done. It cannot be done by one government alone, nor can it be done without addressing the entire picture.
In conclusion, I ask you to adopt the following recommendations in your final report to Parliament: one, that the Government of Canada re-establish its support for the Native Women's Association of Canada and the Ontario Native Women's Association in their efforts to ensure that missing and murdered aboriginal women are a national priority, and includes first nations women in Ontario; two, that the Government of Canada ensure that proper facilities within communities, such as women's shelters and services, are available for those people who are victims or who have lost their loved ones through acts of violence; and three, that the Government of Canada jointly establish an independent public commission of inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women in Canada.
Meegwetch.
