“One of the things that makes this National Inquiry unique is that we are not investigating a past wrong, but one that is still ongoing and that is getting worse. Acts of violence stemming from the structures of colonization and coupled with racism, sexism, homophobia, and transphobia are not few and far between, but pervasive, immediate, and urgent. However, this violence is also preventable – if Canadians are willing to change.”
– Page 85 of Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls
We, the BC Women’s Executive Director Network, stand in solidarity and sorrow with the women, families, community members, Nations and advocates in Manitoba who have been irrevocably harmed by the racism and unfettered violence that has led to the loss of Rebecca Contois, Morgan Beatrice Harris, Marcedes Myran, and the yet to be named fourth victim.
We have no doubt these women were targeted and brutalized because of their gender and Indigenous identities.
Indigenous women, girls, and two spirit people have the right to live a life free from violence on their own lands. Our country continues to violate this right through inadequate protection of Indigenous women and girls.
The reality is that in Canada thousands of Indigenous women, girls and two spirit people have been murdered or have gone missing throughout this colonial country’s past and present. Another undeniable reality is that this violence consistently fails to garner adequate or sustained attention from governments and citizens.
This lack of attention continues to have consequences. Inaction and indifference to the loss of Indigenous lives, particularly women, girls, and two spirit people, has created a world where Indigenous women are 4 times more likely to be murdered than all other women in Canada. This is simply unacceptable.
The recent events in Manitoba demonstrate that the government’s lack of action regarding the findings of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in 2016 has enabled an environment where irreversible harms continue to be perpetrated against Indigenous peoples across the country.
We call upon senior levels of government in Canada to take urgent and meaningful action on the calls for justice from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. If not now, when?
Signatories:
365 Give
AIDS Vancouver
Alex House
Ann Davis Transition Society
Battered Women Support Services
BC Victims of Homicide, a program of the BC Bereavement Helpline
BC Civil Liberties Association
BCEdAccess
BC Non-Profit Housing Association
BC Poverty Reduction Coalition
BC Society of Transition Houses
Big Sisters of BC Lower Mainland
Bloom Group
Cameray Child & Family Services
CityHive
Collingwood Neighbourhood House
Community Arts Council of Vancouver
CMHA North West Vancouver
CMHA Vernon
Community Action Initiative
Community Connections Revelstoke Society
Dixon Transition Society
Dogwood
DreamRider Productions Society
Eastside Arts Society
Elizabeth Bagshaw Clinic
Entre Nous Femmes Housing Society
FarmFolk CityFolk Society
Fernie Citizens Housing Society
First United Church Community Ministry Society
Food Stash Foundation
Fresh Roots
Georgia Strait Alliance
Girls Action Foundation
Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness
Greater Victoria Housing Society
Howe Sound Women’s Centre Society
HUB Cycling
Intrepid Theatre
Kettle Friendship Society
Living in Community
Looking Glass Foundation for Eating Disorders
M.O.S.A.I.C.
ONE TO ONE Literacy
Options for Sexual Health
Pacific Centre Family Services Association
Pacific Immigrant Resources Society
Pathways Serious Mental Illness Society
Paws for Hope Animal Foundation
Red Fox Healthy Living Society
Renfrew Collingwood Seniors Society
Richmond Food Bank Society
Richmond Poverty Reduction Coalition
SHARE Family and Community Services
Sharing Farm Society
SOAR (Supporting Survivors of Abuse and Brain Injury through Research)
Squamish Climate Action Network
Swan Lake Christmas Hill Nature Sanctuary
The Network of Inner-City Community Services Society
Third Space Charity Society
Tuf Lov
Vancouver Women’s Health Collective
Vancouver Writers Fest
Vantage Point
Victoria Women’s Transition House
Watari Counselling and Support Services
WAVAW Rape Crisis Centre
WISH Drop-In Centre Society
Wilderness Committee
Women Transforming Cities
Zero Ceiling Society of Canada
Angela Marie MacDougall
Executive Director
Battered Women’s Support Services
Phone: (604) 808-0507
