Indigenous women’s groups say the federal budget does not include enough targeted, sustained funding for violence prevention and community support services.
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Indigenous women’s groups say the new federal budget is harming the people they represent by failing to include funding 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 in broader programs, adding that Indigenous women need sustained investment and Indigenous women’s organizations must play a meaningful role in implementing it.
The federal budget identifies $3.6 million in funding for Indigenous women, including money to address the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and to fund an alert system to help find women who go missing.
Nepinak said that while some of the funding in the budget is welcome, more needs to be done to ensure “Indigenous women are not an afterthought.”
Crown-Indigenous Relations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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