All governments

Human security

Recommendation 31: We call upon all governments to immediately commence the construction of new housing and the provision of repairs for existing housing to meet the housing needs of Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people. This construction and provision of repairs must ensure that Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people have access to housing that is safe, appropriate to geographic and cultural needs, and available wherever they reside, whether in urban, rural, remote, or Indigenous communities.

All governments

Human security

Recommendation 33: We call upon all governments to ensure that adequate plans and funding are put into place for safe and affordable transit and transportation services and infrastructure for Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people living in remote or rural communities. Transportation should be sufficient and readily available to Indigenous communities, and in towns and cities located in all of the provinces and territories in Canada. These plans and funding should take into consideration:

• ways to increase safe public transit;
• ways to address the lack of commercial transit available;
• and special accommodations for fly-in, northern, and remote communities.

All governments

Justice

Recommendation 38: We call upon all governments to fund the provision of policing services within Indigenous communities in northern and remote areas in a manner that ensures that those services meet the safety and justice needs of the communities and that the quality of policing services is equitable to that provided to non-Indigenous Canadians. This must include but is not limited to the following measures:

1. With the growing reliance on information management systems, particularly in the area of major and interjurisdictional criminal investigations, remote communities must be ensured access to reliable high-speed Internet as a right;
2. Major crime units and major case management must be more accessible to remote and northern communities on a faster basis than the service is being delivered now;
3. Capacity must be developed in investigative tools and techniques for the investigation of sexualized violence, including but not limited to tools for the collection of physical evidence, such as sexual assault kits, and specialized and trauma-informed questioning techniques; and
4. Crime-prevention funding and programming must reflect community needs.

Calls for industries, institutions, services, and partnerships

Police services

Recommendation 72: We call upon all governments to fund an increase in recruitment of Indigenous Peoples to all police services, and for all police services to include representation of Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people, inclusive of diverse Indigenous cultural backgrounds, within their ranks. This includes measures such as the following:

1. Achieve representative First Nations, Inuit, and Métis diversity and gender diversity within all police services through intensive and specialized recruitment across Canada.
2. Ensure mandatory Indigenous language capacity within police services.
3. Ensure that screening of recruits includes testing for racial, gender, gender identity, and sexual orientation bias.
4. Include the Indigenous community in the recruitment and hiring committees/process.
5. In training recruits, include: history of police in the oppression and genocide of Indigenous Peoples; anti-racism and anti-bias training; and culture and language training. All training must be distinctions-based and relevant to the land and people being served; training must not be pan-Indigenous.
6. Retain Indigenous officers through relevant employment supports, and offer incentives to Indigenous officers to meet their unique needs as Indigenous officers serving Indigenous communities, to ensure retention and overall health and wellness of the service.
7. End the practice of limited-duration posts in all police services, and instead implement a policy regarding remote and rural communities focused on building and sustaining a relationship with the local community and cultures. This relationship must be led by, and in partnership with, the Indigenous Peoples living in those remote and rural communities.

Calls for industries, institutions, services, and partnerships

Extractive and development industries

Recommendation 102: We call upon the federal, provincial, and territorial governments to fund further inquiries and studies in order to better understand the relationship between resource extraction and other development projects and violence against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people. At a minimum, we support the call of Indigenous women and leaders for a public inquiry into the sexual violence and racism at hydroelectric projects in northern Manitoba.

Calls for industries, institutions, services, and partnerships

Extractive and development industries

Recommendation 103: We call upon resource-extraction and development industries and all governments and service providers to anticipate and recognize increased demand on social infrastructure because of development projects and resource extraction, and for mitigation measures to be identified as part of the planning and approval process. Social infrastructure must be expanded and service capacity built to meet the anticipated needs of the host communities in advance of the start of projects. This includes but is not limited to ensuring that policing, social services, and health services are adequately staffed and resourced.

Distinctions-based calls

Inuit-specific calls for justice

Recommendation 131: We call upon all governments to ensure the availability of effective, culturally appropriate, and accessible health and wellness services within each Inuit community. The design and delivery of these services must be inclusive of Elders and people with lived experience. Closing the service and infrastructure gaps in the following areas is urgently needed, and requires action by all governments. Required measures include but are not limited to:

1. The establishment and funding of birthing centres in each Inuit community, as well as the training of Inuit midwives in both Inuit and contemporary birthing techniques.
2. The establishment and funding of accessible and holistic community wellness, health, and mental health services in each Inuit community. These services must be Inuit-led and operate in accordance with Inuit health and wellness values, approaches, and methods.
3. The establishment and funding of trauma and addictions treatment and healing options in each Inuit community.

Distinctions-based calls

Inuit-specific calls for justice

Recommendation 143: We call upon all governments to develop and fund safe houses, shelters, transition houses, and second-stage housing for Inuit women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people fleeing violence. These houses and shelters are required in all Inuit communities and in urban centres with large Inuit populations. Shelters must not require full occupancy to remain open and to receive funding. Further, they must be independent from child and family services agencies, as women may not seek shelter due to fear of agency involvement. This action includes the establishment and funding of shelters and safe spaces for families, children, and youth, including Inuit who identify as 2SLGBTQQIA, who are facing socio-economic crises in all Inuit communities and in urban centres with large Inuit populations.

Distinctions-based calls

Inuit-specific calls for justice

Recommendation 153: We call upon all governments and service providers, in full partnership with Inuit, to design and provide wraparound, accessible, and culturally appropriate victim services. These services must be available and accessible to all Inuit and in all Inuit communities.

Distinctions-based calls

Inuit-specific calls for justice

Recommendation 156: We call upon police services, in particular the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), to ensure there is Inuit representation among sworn officers and civilian staff within Inuit communities. Inuit are entitled to receive police services in Inuktut and in a culturally competent and appropriate manner. The RCMP must ensure they have the capacity to uphold this right. Within the Nunavut Territory, and in accordance with Article 23 of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement, the RCMP has obligations to recruit, train, and retain Inuit. The RCMP must take immediate and directed measures to ensure the number of Inuit within the RCMP in Nunavut, and throughout the Inuit homelands, is proportionally representative.