GNWT Action to Address MMIWG
Gender-based violence, family violence, and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls are overlapping and intersecting issues. In order to be effective, the GNWT approach must address each of these issues, as well as the underlying issues of gender equality and discrimination against 2SLGBTQQIA+ persons.
Doing Our Part
There are many Calls for Justice within Reclaiming Power and Place which have significant implications for the Government of the Northwest Territories and residents. In August 2019, the GNWT released Doing our Part, the initial response to the Final Report of the National Inquiry.
The GNWT’s initial response to the Calls for Justice included a thematic approach that:
- highlighted where the GNWT was already doing the work to address the Calls for Justice;
- identified work that could be built upon; and
- set out a number of high-level questions that would need to be considered more fully.
Doing our Part also included a commitment from the GNWT to work with the federal government, Indigenous governments, business sectors, and nongovernment organizations to address the issue of violence against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people.
As a first step, the GNWT identified the need to work with our partners in responding to the Calls for Justice through in-depth discussions on how we collaborate and how we come to a consistent understanding of the issues involved.
Taking Action
Download Taking Action: A Workplan to Address the Calls for Justice
In November 2020, the Minister Responsible for the Status of Women tabled Taking Action: A Work Plan to Address the Calls for Justice in Reclaiming Power and Place: Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.
The GNWT’s initial review of the Final Report showed that many GNWT programs and services already address some components of the Calls for Justice. Taking Action committed the GNWT to:
- closely examine how the current programs and services are provided;
- determine if current programs and services meet the needs of the NWT residents; and
- measure current services that against what is recommended through the Calls for Justice, while bearing in mind that they are recommended actions and not necessarily a requirement to make wide sweeping changes.
The workplan documents a transparent process that outlined how the GNWT would prepare an Action Plan in response to the Calls for Justice.
Internal Review of GNWT Programs and Services
As a first step, the GNWT created an interdepartmental MMIWG Working Group to coordinate the GNWT’s response to the Calls for Justice. Chaired by the Special Advisor to the Minister Responsible for the Status of Women, the working group includes appointed representatives from the departments of Executive and Indigenous Affairs (EIA), Health and Social Services (HSS), Justice, Education, Culture and Employment (ECE), and the NWT Housing Corporation (NWTHC).
The Gender Equity Division collaborated with GNWT departments to conduct an in-depth internal review and analysis of its programs and services. The results of the internal review were compiled into summary reports that identified:
- programs and services that fully address one or more of the Calls for Justice;
- programs and services that partially address one or more of the Calls for Justice (i.e. they do not exactly match the specific intent of a Call for Justice);
- programs and services that need to be implemented to address one or more of the Calls for Justice, noting those that:
- can be implemented immediately
- can be implemented within one year,
- require long-term planning, and
- Calls for Justice that do not apply to the GNWT.
Preliminary Engagement
In June 2021, the GNWT coordinated three separate face-to-face workshops with the Native Women’s Association of the NWT, the Status of Women Council of the NWT, and community contacts representing NWT Indigenous governments and organizations to:
- share information on the development of the GNWT Action Plan;
- seek feedback on the internal review of how GNWT programs and services are addressing
- the Calls for Justice; and
- identify gaps in programs and services that may require improvement.
During the workshops, the GNWT also provided information about the release of the MMIWG National Action Plan and the Federal Pathway to Address Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people. The latter document is the federal government’s response to the MMIWG Final Report.
The What We Heard report summarizes the feedback the GNWT received during preliminary engagement sessions with key partners and stakeholders. Participants were able to provide a broad perspective on the GNWT’s self-assessment of how it is currently addressing the Calls for Justice and substantial input was received on how the GNWT can do better.
While some of the feedback provided included overarching recommendations such as accountability and transparency, more specific recommendations were also made for specific Calls for Justice.
The feedback presented in the What We Heard report helped guide the preparation of the GNWT’s response to the Calls for Justice and the development of the MMIWG Draft Action Plan. The GNWT will continue to engage with its key partners, Indigenous governments and organizations, and community governments as it works to finalize the GNWT Action Plan.
Changing the Relationship
In December 2021, the Minister Responsible for the Status of Women tabled Changing the Relationship: The GNWT Draft Action Plan in Response to the Calls for Justice on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people.
Intended to dismantle colonialism and racial and gendered discrimination from all levels of government and public institutions, the Action Plan also explains how the GNWT will work to change the relationship between the GNWT’s departments, agencies, employees, policies and processes; and their daily encounters with Indigenous women, girls and two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, and asexual plus (2SLGBTQQIA+) people.
To finalize the Draft Action Plan, the GNWT carried out public engagement from June – September 2022. The Final Action Plan in Response to the Calls for Justice on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People was tabled in the 19th Legislative Assembly on November 2, 2022
Changing the Relationship is presented in four parts:
PART 1 – INTRODUCTION
The introduction provides necessary context for understanding the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, the 231 Calls for Justice, the National Action Plan, the Federal Pathway, and the approach taken by the GNWT to review the Calls for Justice and assess its existing programs and services.
PART 2 – ACKNOWLEDGING THE CRISIS
Part 2 lays out some of the facts about the scope of the crisis and the need for an urgent response. This section is a reminder that the actions or inactions of government towards past generations can have long-lasting impacts to future generations.
PART 3 – CHANGING THE RELATIONSHIP
This section begins by setting out a GNWT Vision statement that aligns with the National Action Plan and follows with the GNWT’s objectives for changing the existing relationship between government institutions, policies, employees and Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ residents of the Northwest Territories (NWT). These objectives are built on the recommendations of the Native Women’s Association of the NWT in their final submission to the National Inquiry. These objectives also align with the principles for change identified by the National Action Plan, the Federal Pathway, and the Final Report of the National Inquiry.
Part 3 also highlights the work of key divisions and departments within the GNWT who are working to bring about the transformative change needed to begin to undo the effects of colonialism and racial and gendered discrimination from all levels of government and public institutions.
PART 4 – RESPONDING TO THE CALLS FOR JUSTICE
The final part of the draft action plan articulates a detailed action plan for the GNWT to respond to the Calls for Justice. This section is organized thematically using the four key areas of rights violations identified by the Commissioners in Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. This section provides the GNWT’s Action Plan to respond to Calls for Justice on Culture and Language, Health and Wellness, Human Security, and Justice.