Indigenous women’s groups criticized the new federal budget for not including targeted funding for violence prevention and community support services.
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Indigenous women’s groups say the new federal budget will harm the people they represent because it does not set out funding specifically targeted at violence and community support services.
Native Women’s Association of Canada president Josie Nepinak said Indigenous women’s safety must not depend on short-term funding cycles or be treated as a “secondary factor” inside broader programs.
Nepinak said Indigenous women need sustained investment, and that Indigenous women’s organizations must be able to play a meaningful role in putting that investment into practice.
She pointed to $3.6 million identified in the budget for Indigenous women, including funding intended to address the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and to support an alert system to help find women who go missing.
While Nepinak said some of the funding is welcome, she argued more is needed to ensure “Indigenous women are not an afterthought.”
Crown-Indigenous Relations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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