On June 1st, 2026, Member of Parliament Leah Gazan issued the following statement:
Manitobans are no strangers to the consequences of the climate crisis.
Statement by MP Gazan Regarding Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal Ruling on Canada's Continuing Genocide Against Indigenous Peoples
Statement by MP Gazan Regarding Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal Ruling on Canada's Continuing Genocide Against Indigenous Peoples
The preliminary ruling of the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal is a sobering reminder that the harms of colonialism are not confined to Canada’s past. After hearing testimony from survivors, families, experts, and advocates, the tribunal concluded that there are clear indications of an ongoing genocide against Indigenous Peoples, rooted in the residential school system and sustained through continuing patterns of state action and inaction.
Witnesses detailed the devastating intergenerational impacts of forced family separation, cultural destruction, physical and sexual abuse, and the trauma that continues to affect Indigenous children, families, and communities today. The tribunal found that Canada bears legal, moral, and political responsibility for these harms and identified a continuing pattern of denying Indigenous rights, sovereignty, and accountability under international law.
These findings come at a time when the federal government is cutting funding for residential school survivors, families, and communities seeking truth, justice, healing, and the recovery of missing children. At the same time, it is rolling back investments intended to address the ongoing genocide of Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQIA+ people, despite the Calls for Justice of the National Inquiry and repeated warnings from Indigenous organizations and human rights experts.
In 2023, I put forward a unanimous consent motion in the House of Commons affirming that what happened in residential schools constituted an act of genocide. That motion received the unanimous support of all members of the House. Unfortunately, this acknowledgement has been met with callous cuts.
I strongly urge the government to reinstate the funding that has already been cut to mental health and wellness and healing programs, the Residential Schools Missing Children Community Support Fund, and to table my Bill C-254 as a government bill to ensure that survivors, families, and communities are finally protected from growing anti-indigenous racism and residential school denialism.
Reconciliation cannot be achieved through words alone. It requires action, accountability, and sustained investment in survivor-led healing, community-led investigations, and the protection of Indigenous rights. When governments reduce support for those most directly impacted by these atrocities, they undermine the very work needed to confront the truth and build justice.
The testimony heard by the tribunal reinforces what survivors and Indigenous communities have been saying for generations: the legacy of residential schools is not over. Canada must stop retreating from its responsibilities and instead fully support the work of truth, justice, healing, and Indigenous self-determination.
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MP Leah Gazan
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On June 5, 2026, MP Leah Gazan, NDP Critic for Persons with Disabilities made the following statement:
On June 3, 2026, MP Leah Gazan made the following statement: