Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to be here today to speak about this very important matter.
On Sunday, I was honoured to join my fellow Manitobans for the annual Manitoba Women's Memorial March, which began in Vancouver 30 years ago. It is a march against violence, bringing awareness about the crisis of murdered and missing indigenous women and girls and two-spirit people across the country. This march was founded by the Sisters in Spirit and is now happening from coast to coast.
Although I welcome the motion today, I want to be clear: We need more than awareness. Over 4,000 indigenous women and girls have been murdered or are missing, with little or no action. It was noted as a crisis in 2013 by former UN special rapporteur for indigenous rights, James Anaya.
We have had the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, which was completed with 231 calls to justice. Where is the action? We have consistently seen government after government turn a blind eye while more and more women, girls and two-spirit people in this country go missing and murdered with little or no action, even from the current government.
We know that the very root of this violence is poverty. We know that poverty makes women vulnerable. A failure to provide women with accessible, affordable social housing, taking away options to live safely, takes away choice. We have known this for a long time. In fact, in 1970, Canada's Royal Commission on the Status of Women recommended a guaranteed income for single mothers. Where is this income? It is time that we lift up our current income guarantees in this country and expand them.
We know that there is a direct correlation between rates of poverty and economic insecurity and violence. If we want to protect all individuals from exploitation, we need to ensure that they have what they need to make choices. That includes ensuring that all people are afforded basic human rights, which includes things like a guaranteed livable basic income, and the right to housing.
Former commissioner Robinson of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls stated, “It was pretty much everywhere in the country that we heard about how poverty and economic insecurity played a role in the violence.” Again, although I certainly welcome this motion today, we know this has been going on. We have known this for a very long time, but consecutive Liberal and Conservative governments have chosen not to act. Even with the release of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, there has still been no action.
It was also noted by the former commissioner that there is a recognition that the creation of poverty is a part of state violence. Commissioner Robinson concluded by saying, “It's not accidental.”
It is time that we address this. Poverty is violence. If we are truly going to address violence against women, girls and two-spirit people and ensure that people are not placed in situations where they are sexually exploited, we need to ensure they have what they need. We need to heed call for justice 4.5 of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. It states:
We call upon all governments to establish a guaranteed annual livable income for all Canadians, including Indigenous Peoples, to meet all their social and economic needs. This income must take into account diverse needs, realities, and geographic locations.
What is even more shocking is we know that since the start of the pandemic, the current rates of violence are rapidly increasing and have impacted elements of everybody's lives. However, specifically and more brutally, we know that increasing violence has impacted the lives of some more than others. These are historically marginalized individuals who were already left outside, or falling through the cracks, of our current social safety net, including women, seniors, disabled persons, indigenous peoples, BIPOC, students, LGBTQQIA people, refugees and temporary workers. We have heard stories of companies exploiting workers during the pandemic by not providing them with appropriate living quarters and forcing them to eat food rations. This is happening in Canada. We need more than awareness; we need action now.
We know that income inequality is deeply racialized. This demonstrates a gap between substantive and procedural law. Some codified laws state that all citizens are equal and have equal rights, but in practice it is much more difficult to find secure employment as a member of a BIPOC group. Poverty is racialized in this country and it is legislated, as we see in the Indian Act, which has set up levels of poverty in first nations communities and indigenous communities throughout the country, where we sometimes witness 95% unemployment.
We need to tackle the roots of violence. We need to tackle of the roots of human trafficking, sexual exploitation and slavery in this country by ensuring that everybody has what they need for living in dignity. That includes providing people who are falling through the cracks and suffering from addictions with safe places to find help, support, protection and dignity so they can truly have what they need to perhaps live with safety, security and dignity.
I would like to thank my hon. colleague for putting this motion forward. I certainly support it in principle, but I say this very clearly: We must stop talking; now is the time for action.