Whereas the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit People MMIWG2S Calls of Justice applies to the municipal government: Therefore be it resolved that the UBCM support the Calls for Justice from the MMIWG2S report.
Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General Government is interested in working with UBCM to advance work in response to the Calls for Justice from the MMIWG2S report. Dismantling the underlying and systemic issues that result in Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQ people experiencing violence at a much higher rate than other populations is fundamental to governments work toward true and lasting reconciliation and advancing gender equality. Our work to date includes releasing A Path Forward: Priorities and Early Strategies for BC, outlining 28 mandate commitments to address the systemic causes of violence against Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA people, and announcing a foundational 5.5M investment towards addressing community-based priorities in response to the National Inquiry into MMIWG on June 3, 2021. Ministry staff have implemented the 5.5M investment, including establishing an Indigenous-led Path Forward Community Fund which is now being administered by the BC Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres. Government also released the Path Forward 2022 Status Update report on June 3, 2022, publicly reporting on key highlights of progress on the 28 commitments by theme. This is only the beginning of our work to address violence against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQ people and government is committed to supporting further action towards addressing the Calls for Justice from the MMIWG2S report.