Native Women’s Association of Canada says federal budget hot one target, missed another

Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) believes budget delivers funding at levels that could make a real difference in the lives of Indigenous women but falls short on MMIWG.

This budget provides much-needed supports to Indigenous women, their families, and their communities, and builds on financial commitments of previous years in ways that could make a real difference in their lives, but falls short on stopping the tragedy of the missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG.)

The $11 billion over six years that has been promised to Indigenous people is targeted at some of the most urgent issues, including housing, health, social services, and education.

A statement from the NWAC read: “We are also pleased to see that more money has been set aside for infrastructure on reserves, and to help First Nations locate burial sites at former residential schools.

“We would have liked to have seen additional funds to stop the violence and genocide addressed in the National Inquiry’s Final Report on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. That said, it is clear that the federal government is making sincere efforts to help the people we represent, and is directing resources to areas of significant concern – areas that NWAC has said needed to be addressed. We will take a few days to go over the numbers to determine how much will actually flow to Indigenous women’s groups to deal with these matters and we will be happy to share our full analysis.”