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Addendum to OHRC letter to Premier Wynne regarding Murdered and Missing Indigenous women

Code Grounds
indigenous
Resource Type
letter
Discrimination Type
systemic
Key Priorities
Indigenous Reconciliation

October 30, 2015

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne
Premier of Ontario
Room 281, Main Legislative Building, Queen’s Park
Toronto, Ontario M7A 1A1

Further to the attached correspondence of yesterday, please find enclosed hard-copies of the reports identified from the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Inter‑American Commission.

As you review the reports, I would like to draw particular attention to the most crucial rulings of the reports, namely, that the social and economic marginalization of indigenous women and girls is a root cause of the violence; it makes them more vulnerable to violence and less able to escape it. Both expert bodies have found that Canada’s failure to fulfill the social, economic, and cultural rights of indigenous women violates their rights to equality and puts their rights to life and security at risk. While the reports are clearly concerned about inadequate police response after the violence has occurred, they are also concerned about the responsibility of governments in Canada to take the necessary measures to prevent the violence through addressing the social and economic disadvantage of indigenous women and the current impacts of historical discrimination.

Yours sincerely,
Ruth Goba Hon.BA, LLB
Interim Chief Commissioner
Encls.

cc/

Hon. Madeleine Meilleur, Attorney General of Ontario

Hon. Tracy MacCharles, Minister Responsible for Women’s Issues

Hon. David Zimmer, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs

Kimberly Murray, Assistant Deputy Attorney General, Aboriginal Justice Division

Ontario Native Women’s Association

Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres

Metis Nation of Ontario

Chief Isadore Day, Chiefs of Ontario