Mr. Speaker, on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, let us all be reminded that the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls’ final report concluded that thousands of indigenous women and girls are victims of a genocide.
To end the genocide, the Government of Canada is required to fully and promptly implement all the calls for justice, yet more than a year later we still do not have an action plan led by indigenous women, as promised by the Prime Minister. This failure betrays the truths shared by survivors and their families.
What is worse is that the government is using the pandemic as an excuse for delays. It is as if the Prime Minister is blind to the fact that the pandemic has made violence against women much worse. Calls for action to address poverty, economic inequality and inadequate housing have been made repeatedly in numerous reports and by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
There can be no more delays. There can be no more stolen sisters. The government must treat violence against women, especially indigenous women, with the same urgency as its pandemic response.