What is happening in Canada?

Five years have passed since violence against Indigenous women and girls was declared a national emergency after a report released by The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women gave 231 recommendations (‘Calls for Justice’) for legal and social change across 18 policy areas in need of reform. The report also found that Indigenous women and girls were 12 times more likely to be murdered or missing than other women in Canada. Since the report was released only two have been completed whilst more than half haven’t been started, whilst others haven’t been allocated sufficient funding. 

This lack of progress has been criticised by the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), which is a national pressure group in Canada working specifically to advocate for the rights and priorities of first-nation individuals. They argue that the government has not done enough to address the issue, attributing the lack of process to racism. Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Gary Anandasangaree responded by admitting that systemic change was going to be needed to fully address this issue which is “not going to happen overnight.” 

This coincides with several national developments in the political and legal arena, including the recent sentencing of serial killer Jeremy Skibicki, who was sentenced in July 2024 for four counts of murder after admitting to killing four Indigenous Women, one of whom hasn’t been identified. The Canadian government also allocated 1.3 million Canadian dollars (£730,000) to the ‘Red Dress Alert System’ – similar to an Amber Alert system – which will notify the public when an Indigenous woman or girl goes missing to address slow response times.

What is in it for you?

For readers living in countries such as Canada, Australia, and the United States, which have a history of violence and cultural whitewashing against Indigenous populations, the way in which the Canadian government addresses it will be key in setting a precedent for other countries. Given the high-profile nature of the issue in Canada, governments and campaign groups in other countries will be influenced by how the Canadian government chooses to address it. Additionally, the tone it sets will potentially be a deciding factor in how safe Indigenous communities feel in Canada and globally.

For readers in Canada specifically, the increased likeliness of Indigenous women and girls disappearing or having some sort of assault committed against them despite accounting for less than 1% of the population has been known prior to the report, as it was only completed in 2019, but took 3 years to compile, with case studies going on back until the 1970s. This has been a systematic issue that has been well-known, to the point where advocacy groups argued that the National Inquiry into Missing Indigenous Women and Girls responsible for producing the report was an example of government lip service rather than any real political will to address the issue. For example, the amount of funds allocated for the Red Dress Alert in the 2024 budget was criticised by New Democratic Party MP Leah Gazan for being less than the amount of money allocated to combat auto theft. 

Readers concerned with international law and human security should note that the 2019 report concluded that this amounted to a genocide of indigenous people in Canada rather than mass murder because it is believed to be the systemic targeting of a particular ethnic group with the underlying motivation being racism.  As awareness of these issues increases, Indigenous groups in Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand may find that they have collective bargaining power that they can use to force the hands of federal governments by appealing to the International Courst if the violence against Indigenous populations meets the criteria for genocide under the 1948 Genocide Convention - of which the above countries are signatories, as these countries would be required by international law to prevent genocide from occurring.

What happens next?

The issue of Indigenous women disappearing is likely to be revisited during the Canadian federal elections next year as part of the Liberal campaign to win over Indigenous communities. This has been demonstrated through the introduction of the Red Dress Alert, as this is most likely something that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau would want to claim credit for to improve his track record in addressing issues relevant to Indigenous communities, despite his government not fully addressing the issues raised in the 2019 report, which was released during his second term. 

Whether these suggestions outlined in the report are funded or enacted will depend on the outcome of the next Canadian federal elections, which will be held on 20 October 2025. The Conservative Party of Canada is believed to be less likely to take up Indigenous issues, and so if this party receives a majority, it may not only not fund any new programmes to address the issue of the disappearance of Indigenous women, but also reduce funding for existing programmes. 

The Red Dress Alert was established as part of the Canadian Parliament’s 2024 Budget, meaning that the funding allocated for it is not guaranteed for the next year and so the continuation of it may depend on its success rate until the next budget. It has been criticised in the Canadian Parliament for the comparatively small amount of funding which it has been allocated, which will impact its effectiveness as a warning system.

The Polis Team in Edinburgh