February 14 marks the annual memorial march in honour of the lives of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls & 2SLGBTQQIA. It is also a day to lift grassroots efforts, including the voices of survivors of violence, communities and family members who have lost loved ones to this ongoing genocide.
The following joint letter was sent to Hon. Marco Mendicino, Mayor Brian Bowman, Hon. Heather Stefanson, Hon. Kelvin Goertzen, and the City of Winnipeg’s Executive Policy Committee.
On behalf of residents in the downtown Winnipeg and St. James neighbourhoods, we are compelled to speak out regarding new and disturbing reports about the occupation in our city.
As elected representatives for downtown Winnipeg, we have a responsibility to ensure that residents can live in their communities with the protections afforded to them under the law including Neighbourhood Livability By-laws (1/2008).
Let’s start by addressing what this convoy is not - it is not a peaceful protest. It is not peaceful to throw rocks at an ambulance and hurl racist insults at a paramedic, as the Ottawa Citizen has reported. It is not peaceful to harass outreach workers in an attempt to take food meant for homeless people. It is not peaceful to enter businesses without masks, and intimidate retail and hotel workers, forcing their workplaces to close. It is not peaceful to brandish swastikas, Confederate flags and other symbols of hate.
NDP Critic for Families, Children and Social Development, Leah Gazan, made the following statement:
"New Democrats welcome a childcare deal in New Brunswick – it is long overdue. The Liberals have been promising Canadian families affordable childcare since 1993, and since then, families have spent thousands of dollars every year in childcare expenses. In some parts of the country, the cost of childcare is the same as having a second mortgage. Families deserve quality accessible, affordable, and culturally appropriate childcare in their community when they need it.
NDP Critic for Women and Gender Equity, Leah Gazan, issued the following statement:
A third of women in Canada report experiencing sexual assault at least once. We know this is a low-estimate and that Disabled women, Indigenous women, Two-Spirit, trans and non-binary people, and women who are unhoused experience even greater rates of violence. The normalization of these human rights abuses is all too common in Canada, from the state police violence perpetrated against Indigenous Elders and Matriarchs protecting their territories to Disabled women being legislated into poverty. Gender-based violence is preventable, there simply must be the political will to do so.
OTTAWA – Today, following new information from Statistics Canada that the cost of essentials like food, housing and gasoline are rising, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is urging the Trudeau government to stop clawing back support from Canadians who need help. Last week, Singh asked that the 80,000 low-income seniors who were cut off the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) for receiving pandemic supports continue to get the help they need. Singh is also calling on the Liberal government to help the low-income families who have had the Canada Child Benefit (CCB) they count on taken away from them.
NDP Critic for Women and Gender Equity Leah Gazan and NDP Critic for Crown Indigenous Relations Lori Idlout made the following statement on the 50th Anniversary of Helen Betty Osborne’s death: