Recommendations to guarantee economic security for Indigenous women in the DTES

Universal public services

Recommendation 87: Free postsecondary tuition:

1. Free tuition for all postsecondary education for all Indigenous women and girls.
2. Eliminate all interest on existing student loans for Indigenous women and girls.
3. Under the Single Parents Employment Initiative, extend tuition coverage to multi-year degrees and training programs and remove the restricted list of eligible careers and programs.

Recommendations for safe and affordable housing for Indigenous women in the DTES

Recommendation 89: The Definition of Indigenous homelessness in Canada should form the basis of all policies on Housing and homelessness with appropriate solutions to homelessness that integrates land, culture, belonging, and kinship networks.

Recommendations for safe and affordable housing for Indigenous women in the DTES

Recommendation 90: Comprehensive federal, provincial, and municipal Indigenous Housing policy framework to specifically address Indigenous homelessness.

Recommendations for safe and affordable housing for Indigenous women in the DTES

Recommendation 91: Change government definitions of social housing and affordable housing to mean rates that are affordable to people on social assistance, and rents that are income-geared not market-geared.

Recommendations for safe and affordable housing for Indigenous women in the DTES

Recommendation 92: Funding initiatives to end homelessness must be more inclusive of Indigenous women. Implement the existing recommendations of Homes 4 Women and Women’s Shelters Canada on making homeless initiatives and funding structures more gender-equal.

Recommendations for safe and affordable housing for Indigenous women in the DTES

Recommendation 93: Federal funding for homelessness needs to go beyond Housing First initiatives to better suit the diverse needs of Indigenous women. Housing First funding must also have less eligibility criteria and longer timelines.

Recommendations for safe and affordable housing for Indigenous women in the DTES

Build social housing and transition homes

Recommendation 96: A minimum of 30 percent of all units funded by the current National Housing Strategy and the various Building BC Housing Funds must be designated to Indigenous women and families, and be operated by Indigenous housing providers.

Recommendations to keep Indigenous families together in the DTES

Recommendation 111: Implementation of and full funding for federal Indigenous Child Welfare legislation that is attentive to specific First Nations, Metis, and Inuit needs. Ensure that Indigenous nations resume sole jurisdiction—and not simply service delivery—over child welfare for child-members of the nation who are on reserve and off reserve. This is in accordance with the United Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Recommendations to keep Indigenous families together in the DTES

Recommendation 112: In full partnership with First Nations, INAC must immediately:

1. Fully redress the inequities and structural problems of funding for First Nations children.
2. Support funding and policy options proposed by First Nations for child and family services.
3. Ensure that a formal compliance and reporting program be established specifically for the First Nations Child and Family Services Program.

Recommendations to keep Indigenous families together in the DTES

Recommendation 113: We applaud the work of Dr. Cindy Blackstock and the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society and call on the federal government to comply with the legally-binding orders of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal to:

1. Immediately and fully apply Jordan’s principle to all First Nations children living on and off reserve.
2. Apply Jordan’s principle based on the need of the child and not limited to the normative standard of care.
3. Ensure that administrative delays do not delay service provision and respond to most cases within 48 hours.