‘Slap to the face’: Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs on Missing, Murdered Women plan

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – The Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs (UBIC) is speaking out against Canada’s National Action Plan on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People, which comes two years after a national inquiry on that issue.

The UBCIC says the plan fails to address its concerns about the health and safety of Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people, and amounts to failing to prevent the “crisis of murders and disappearances, and the ongoing genocide against Indigenous women and girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people that was identified by the National Inquiry.”

“With this document, Canada has once again dismissed the stories and voices of thousands of Indigenous women, survivors and families,” said Chief Judy Wilson with the UBCIC.

The 113-page document was the work of the federal government and the National Families and Survivors Circle, Indigenous communities, and other levels of government. Trauma-informed training for those who work with Indigenous people and a public education campaign are among the immediate steps.

Longer term, the report calls for measures like more shelters for Indigenous women, a guaranteed livable income, more healing programs, better housing and infrastructure for Indigenous communities, a national emergency number, and a national task force to review and re-investigate unresolved files.

Wilson is also upset she was not allowed to contribute to the plan’s creation, noting only Indigenous groups selected by the government were involved.

“I don’t know what Canada’s afraid of,” said Wilson, who said despite her efforts, she was excluded from participation. “What are they scared of? Why not work with on-the-ground experts and be inclusive in preparing that national action plan? At the end of the day, maybe Canada is worried about how much it would cost.”

A further statement from the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs in response to the National Action Plan @UBCIC pic.twitter.com/dqOIuQtvBZ

— Martin MacMahon (@martinmacmahon) June 3, 2021

Wilson and other advocates insist the only way to move forward is with a plan led by Indigenous women.

“Indigenous peoples have always known the truth of Canada and its deliberate tools of oppression,” UBCIC Women’s Representative Melissa Moses said in a statement. “From the seizure of our land, the theft of our children, and the murders and disappearances of our women – these have been willful and conscious actions and inactions intended to dispossess us of our lands and territories and assimilate us into colonial society.

“The document released today is an offensive performance by the government to skirt responsibility and glaze over the ongoing genocide of women and girls. Despite repeated demands from the Coalition on Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls, Canada has continued to ignore Indigenous women and has excluded from the National Action Plan the voices and experiences of survivors, family members, grassroots Indigenous women-led organizations, women who are incarcerated, in survival sex economies, those who have been subjected to forced sterilization, those with disabilities, and those that can speak specifically to the murders on the Highway of Tears.

“Our women are survivors of colonialism with lived experience and expertise and must be at the heart of any plan moving forward. Canada must listen.”

Related articles:

• Canada unveils Action Plan to address calls to justice for MMIWG

• What people are saying about the MMIWG national action plan

UBCIC is not the only Indigenous organization upset by the plan. The Native Women’s Association of Canada did take part for a time, but eventually pulled out of what it described as a “toxic” process.

“Considering that there is no coordination between the different levels of government, we ask ourselves what is the use of this work?” Viviane Michel, President, Quebec Native Women said in a statement.

Ultimately, a group of Indigenous and women’s organizations including UBCIC say the federal plan fails to answer how Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people will be kept safe, saying there’s little in the way of information specifying timelines for action, or even what people or groups will be responsible for specific goals.