Recommendations to guarantee economic security for Indigenous women in the DTES

Recommendation 54: Implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action.

Recommendations to guarantee economic security for Indigenous women in the DTES

Recommendation 55: Implement a human rights, Indigenous rights, and gender based analysis in the conception and implementation of all poverty reduction strategies, policies, legislation, and decision making.

Recommendations to guarantee economic security for Indigenous women in the DTES

Recommendation 56: All levels of government must coordinate on an Indigenous specific poverty reduction plan, complete with specific goals, targets, timelines, and accountabilities.

Recommendations to guarantee economic security for Indigenous women in the DTES

Recommendation 57: Implement an Indigenous reparations tax on top of property taxes on residential, commercial, and industrial properties, with all revenues going to implementation of an Indigenous poverty reduction plan.

Recommendations to guarantee economic security for Indigenous women in the DTES

Recommendation 58: Increase the federal Old Age Security (OAS), the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS), Canadian Pension Plan (CPP), and BC Seniors Supplement.

Recommendations to guarantee economic security for Indigenous women in the DTES

Recommendation 59: Provide all residential school survivors with a guaranteed livable income for the rest of their lives.

Recommendations to guarantee economic security for Indigenous women in the DTES

Provincial income assistance

Recommendation 61: Increase income and disability rates to the Market Basket Measure to reflect the cost of an adequate standard of living, and index them to inflation.

Recommendations to guarantee economic security for Indigenous women in the DTES

Provincial income assistance

Recommendation 62: Provide grandparents raising grandchildren, and all kinship care providers, with incomes and benefits comparable to foster parents. This includes a living wage and full access to child care and respite support.

Recommendations to guarantee economic security for Indigenous women in the DTES

Provincial income assistance

Recommendation 63: Eliminate barriers to accessing income and disability assistance by reducing unnecessary eligibility criteria and simplifying the application processes. This includes:

1. Removing the two-year financial independence requirement for income assistance.
2. Basing income assistance eligibility on current income only.
3. Removing the penalty clawback for failure to work search requirements for income assistance.
4. Removing the work search requirement for mothers with children over the age of three years old.

Recommendations to guarantee economic security for Indigenous women in the DTES

Provincial income assistance

Recommendation 65: End clawbacks of income and disability assistance including clawbacks of Canada Pension Plan Disability Benefits and penalties for cohabitation.