Distinctions-based calls

Inuit-specific calls for justice

Recommendation 140: We call upon all government agencies providing child and family services to Inuit children to enumerate and report on the number of Inuit children in their care. This data must be disaggregated and the reports must be shared with Inuit organizations and Inuit child and youth advocates.

Distinctions-based calls

Inuit-specific calls for justice

Recommendation 141: We call upon all governments to prioritize supporting Inuit families and communities to meet the needs of Inuit children, recognizing that apprehension must occur only when absolutely required to protect a child. Placement of Inuit children with extended family and in Inuit homes must be prioritized and resourced. Placement outside of their communities and outside their homelands must be restricted.

Distinctions-based calls

Inuit-specific calls for justice

Recommendation 142: We call upon all governments to respect the rights of Inuit children and people in care, including those who are placed in care outside of their Inuit homelands. All governments must ensure that children and people in care have access to their families and kinship systems and have meaningful access to their culture and language and to culturally relevant services. All child and family services agencies must work with Inuit communities within their jurisdiction to meet their obligations to Inuit children in their care. We call upon all governments to immediately invest in safe, affordable, and culturally appropriate housing within Inuit communities and for Inuit outside of their homelands, given the links between the housing crisis and violence, poor health (including tuberculosis) and suicide. Immediate and directed measures are required to end the crisis.

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 145: We call upon all governments to ensure equitable access to high-quality educational opportunities and outcomes from early childhood education to post-secondary education within Inuit communities. Further, all governments must invest in providing Inuit women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people with accessible and equitable economic opportunities.

Distinctions-based calls

Inuit-specific calls for justice

Recommendation 146: We call upon all governments to fund and to support culturally and age appropriate programs for Inuit children and youth to learn about developing interpersonal relationships. These programs could include, for example, training in developing healthy relationships and personal well-being and traditional parenting skills. Furthermore, Inuit children and youth must be taught how to identify violence through the provision of age-appropriate educational programs like the Good Touch/Bad Touch program offered in Nunavik.

Distinctions-based calls

Inuit-specific calls for justice

Recommendation 147: We call upon all governments to work with Inuit to provide public awareness and education to combat the normalization of domestic violence and sexualized violence against Inuit women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people; to educate men and boys about the unacceptability of violence against Inuit women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people; and to raise awareness and education about the human rights and Indigenous rights of Inuit.

Distinctions-based calls

Inuit-specific calls for justice

Recommendation 148: We call upon all governments to fund and to support programs for Inuit children and youth to teach them how to respond to threats and identify exploitation. This is particularly the case with respect to the threats of drugs and drug trafficking as well as sexual exploitation and human trafficking. This awareness and education work must be culturally and age-appropriate and involve all members of the community, including 2SLGBTQQIA Inuit.

Distinctions-based calls

Inuit-specific calls for justice

Recommendation 149: We call upon all educators to ensure that the education system, from early childhood to post-secondary, reflects Inuit culture, language, and history. The impacts and history of colonialism and its legacy and effects must also be taught. Successful educational achievements are more likely to be attained and be more meaningful for Inuit when they reflect their socio-economic, political, and cultural reality and needs. Further, we call upon all governments with jurisdiction over education within the Inuit homeland to amend laws, policies, and practices to ensure that the education system reflects Inuit culture, language, and history.

Distinctions-based calls

Inuit-specific calls for justice

Recommendation 151: We call upon all governments to ensure that in all areas of service delivery – including but not limited to policing, the criminal justice system, education, health, and social services – there be ongoing and comprehensive Inuit-specific cultural competency training for public servants. There must also be ongoing and comprehensive training in such areas as trauma care, cultural safety training, anti-racism training, and education with respect to the historical and ongoing colonialism to which Inuit have been and are subjected.