I was a student activist when the Prime Minister of Canada in the previous government said that the issue of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls was not a priority; that was crushing.
We are moving forward to respond to the calls for justice. My colleagues, including Minister Bennett and me, have been working with indigenous communities across the country. We held virtual gatherings, with Yukon, with Manitoba, for example. The work is ongoing. COVID has changed things, but we heard clearly from families, from survivors, from indigenous leaders, “nothing about us without us”, and we are co-developing that response.
We didn't wait to respond. We've already invested historic amounts in women's organizations supporting indigenous communities across the country. We are already working to close gaps. The K-to-12 education gap, for example, the cap on funding, that was removed. Over half the boil water advisories have been removed. Sex discrimination in the Indian Act has been removed. We put forward legislation around indigenous languages and supports for children in care and restoring those rights to those families. Some hundreds of millions of dollars have been invested directly—