OTTAWA, Ontario — Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada stands in full solidarity with the National Family and Survivors Circle, the Native Women’s Association of Canada, Les Femmes Michif Otipemisiwak, Giganawenimaanaanig, and all Indigenous Women’s Organizations, sounding the alarm on the federal government’s decision to allow critical MMIWG2S+ funding to sunset.
The sunsetting of these funds is a life-or-death decision, not simply an administrative item. Pauktuutit calls on the federal government to provide sustained long-term funding to Indigenous Women’s Organizations, helping to break cycles of violence and address MMIWG.
“We must be able to continue the work we’ve started. Progress demands sustained political will, adequate long-term funding, Indigenous-led solutions, and genuine accountability,” says Laisa Audlaluk-Watsko, Interim Board Chair of Pauktuutit.
“When looking at MMIWG2s+ statistics, we need to remember each data point represents a life — and every day of delay in implementing the Calls for Justice means continued violence against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people.”
The Crisis Is Ongoing — Inuit Women Cannot Be Left Behind
As national Indigenous Women’s Organizations made clear at Wednesday’s press conference in Ottawa, allowing MMIWG2S+ funding to sunset “undermines progress, disrupts essential services and places lives at risk.”
Pauktuutit echoes this warning with an urgent Inuit-specific dimension: when broad funding structures are cut or left unresolved, Inuit women — already among the most underserved within Indigenous programming — are disproportionately impacted.
Parliament has recognized the ongoing violence against Indigenous women and girls as a genocide and a national emergency. That designation demands an adequate, sustained response. This is not a moment for interim arrangements or bureaucratic review.
Pauktuutit calls on all levels of government to direct resources toward violence prevention and immediate action. Indigenous-specific solutions already exist. Inuit-specific solutions already exist. These solutions help break cycles of violence and build upon existing Inuit-led programs, interventions, and initiatives that support healthy families and communities.
Inuit-Specific Approaches Are Non-Negotiable
Pauktuutit emphasizes that broad, pan-Indigenous funding frameworks, however well-intentioned, are not a substitute for Inuit-specific investment. All responses to the National Inuit Action Plan on Missing and Murdered Inuit Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People must:
- Incorporate an Inuit-Specific Gender-Based Analysis+ (ISGBA+) lens
- Uphold Inuit women’s rights
- Ensure the equitable representation of Inuit women’s leadership and governance
- Build organizational and community capacity
- Explicitly include Inuit living in urban areas
As a recent UN report underscored, there has been “limited substantive progress” in implementing the 231 Calls for Justice, alongside “sustained rates of violence, including lethal violence, against Indigenous women.” This is the context in which the federal government has chosen to allow funding for MMIWG-related initiatives to sunset. That choice is unacceptable.
Accountability Must Be Real and Transparent
Clear mechanisms must be established to track implementation of all 231 Calls for Justice from the Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People, with regular, publicly accessible progress reporting. Of the 231 Calls for Justice, 46 are Inuit-specific and 184 fall within shared federal, provincial, and territorial jurisdiction. Seven years after the Final Report, and five years into the National Action Plan, accountability is long overdue.
The federal government must work collaboratively with Indigenous Women’s Organizations — not merely notify them of interim funding decisions — and must include them in all decision-making related to preventing and addressing MMIWG2S+.
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Background
In June 2021, Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada and Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK) released the National Inuit Action Plan on Missing and Murdered Inuit Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People in response to the 46 Inuit-specific Calls for Justice from the National Inquiry.
As former Pauktuutit President Rebecca Kudloo stated: “If we are to end the tragedy of gendered violence, Inuit women must be at the forefront of implementation and monitoring of the National Action Plan for Inuit. This is not a preference — it’s an imperative — consistent with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and the recommendations of the Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.”
The work must begin and end with Inuit women, girls, and gender-diverse Inuit. They are the experts on MMIWG2S+ and must take the lead in determining solutions.
Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada is the national non-profit organization representing all Inuit women in Canada. We foster greater awareness of the needs of Inuit women, girls and gender-diverse Inuit and encourage their participation in community, regional, and national concerns related to social, cultural, and economic development.
For more information, please contact: communications@pauktuutit.ca.
