July 8, 2021 – Ottawa – Rebecca Kudloo, President of Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada, spoke in a meeting of the Inuit-Crown Partnership Committee today, reinforcing the need for collaborative work to see real progress on the commitments made in the National Inuit Action Plan on Missing and Murdered Inuit Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People (MMIWG).
“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. We owe it to the families who have come forward. They shared their stories, despite the pain. We owe it to them to implement the action plan the right way.”
The Inuit-Crown Partnership Committee was created in February 2017. The Committee meets three times a year with the goal of working collaboratively to advance reconciliation, strengthen the Inuit-Crown partnership, and create a more prosperous Inuit Nunangat.
Today’s meeting was a chance to review progress and advance work on:
- Reconciliation measures, MMIWG
- Inuit Nunangat policy
- Federal budget investments and Inuit-specific allocations
Pauktuutit’s 36 years of advocacy for Inuit women’s shelters was realized and acknowledged at the meeting. Soon, five new Inuit women’s shelters will be a reality thanks to support from the Honourable Catherine McKenna, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, the Honourable Dan Vandal, Minister of Northern Affairs, the Honourable Marc Miller, Minister of Indigenous Services, and the Honourable Carolyn Bennett, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, who are all on the committee and supported this important milestone for Inuit women.
The committee also took time to acknowledge the historic appointment of Mary Simon as the first Inuk woman to become Governor General, and the pride of hearing Simon speak her first remarks in Inuktut.