First Nations leaders in British Columbia have marked the 5th anniversary of the conclusion of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls to urge the federal and provincial governments to implement the more than 200 recommendations from the landmark review.
On 30 June the Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) said it was "deeply concerned" that independent progress reports by the CBC and the Assembly of First Nations evaluating advances made on implementation of the 231 Calls for Justice "show minimal or no progress on the vast majority of the calls".
UBCIC Women's Representative Melissa Moses said the government's work to implement the Calls for Justice have lacked coordination and failed to address the roots of the crisis.
"Government has been swift to point to its progress on addressing the MMIWG2S+ crisis and gender-based violence (GBV), but it's too early to celebrate," she said.
"Steps are being taken, but the work is happening across various ministries and jurisdictions without cohesive coordination, creating silos and failing to address the deeply rooted origins of the MMIWG2S+ crisis.
"By UBCIC Resolution 2024-20, the UBCIC Chiefs Council has called on crown governments to intensify efforts with the creation of a collaborative table which includes survivors and families of MMIWG2S+ and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people, First Nations and women's organisations, to work across levels of government and between ministries to address GBV prevention and implement the Calls for Justice without delay.
"UBCIC urges all levels of government, as well as political candidates in the upcoming provincial and federal elections, to prioritise ending the MMIWG2S+ crisis once and for all."
UBCIC President Grand Chief Stewart Phillip said: "Today marks five years since the truth of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit+ (MMIWG2S+) crisis came into broad public knowledge with the National Inquiry's conclusion, but Indigenous peoples have been living and dying by those brutal realities for centuries."
"The last five years have been a frustrating start and stop, particularly for the families of the missing and murdered who held out hope that the National Inquiry's recommendations would be transformative," he said.
"Despite governments' failures to take the National Inquiry's findings and the ongoing genocide seriously, survivors and families have been steadfast. If anything is clear, it is that families and survivors must be recognized at the heart of the work to implement the C4J (the Calls for Justice).
"UBCIC stands wholeheartedly with survivors and families in the journey for justice for their stolen loved ones and we uphold every effort to heal, create change, and to end the crisis."
UBCIC Secretary Treasurer Chief Marilyn Slett said the "sad reality" is that violence against Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit+ people and Calls for Justice implementation "have not been prioritised by crown governments, nor have they been cornerstone electoral issues for political parties vying for a chance in office".
"The National Inquiry put forward the C4J as legal imperatives, not suggestions, and any government in power has a duty to move swiftly on implementation. Unfortunately, it's fallen to First Nations, advocates, organisations and families to track progress on C4J implementation and hold government to account," she said.
UBCIC Vice-President Chief Don Tom noted that UBCIC's 'More than Opportunity Lost: A Discussion Paper on Creating a MMIWG2S+ Database', and UBCIC Resolution 2024-30 have called on the federal government to respond to C4J 9.5(v) by creating a National MMIWG2S+ Database to ensure consistent and validated data collection to measure progress and highlight the urgency of the crisis.
"In a time of increasing misinformation, this data is needed to breathe life into cold cases and ongoing investigations and to refute persistent racist and misogynistic views that downplay the severity of ongoing violence against our women, girls and two-spirit+ relatives," he said.
