June 3, 2020

When will Indigenous Peoples’ lives matter to this government, asks MP Gazan

TREATY 1 TERRITORY, WINNIPEG – One year after the Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG2s) issued their final report with calls for justice, NDP MP Leah Gazan (Winnipeg Centre) called out the government for reneging on their promise to release a national action plan on MMIWG.

“Broken promises are all we’re getting from this government,” said Gazan. “They promised legislation on UNDRIP and broke it. They promised to release a national action plan one year after the release of the National Inquiry into MMIWG report and failed to deliver.”

While questioning the minister in parliament today, Gazan highlighted that it took this government a full year to meet with the Manitoba coalition of families for murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls. The government is using the pandemic as an excuse for the delay in issuing an action plan, and yet they had eight months before COVID-19 to move on the calls for justice.

“This government is using the same excuses to continue to discriminate against First Nations children on reserve,” said Gazan. “When will the lives of Indigenous peoples matter to this government?”

The NDP will continue to hold the government accountable for its inaction on missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

Contact:

Claire Johnston

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