Debates of October 30, 2024 (day 35)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I want to talk about gender-based violence.

Two out of 100 residents in the Northwest Territories have reported intimate partner and family violence to the police. As of 2019, Statistics Canada lists the Northwest Territories as having the second highest rate of police-reported intimate partner and family violence in Canada, and we know that not everyone reports these incidents to the police.

Women are disproportionally affected by gender-based violence. Gender-based violence comes in many forms, and some of the people experiencing this violence may not even recognize their abuse because it has become normal for them.

In November 2022, the national action plan to end gender-based violence was endorsed during the annual meeting of the Ministers for the Status of Women. This 10-year framework provides direction to federal, provincial, and territorial governments to work towards a Canada free of gender-based violence.

In August 2023, the GNWT signed a funding agreement with the federal Department of Women and Gender Equality for $16 million over four years, to implement the national action plan to end gender-based violence within the territory.

The GNWT's approach in implementing this plan is unprecedented as the funding is shared with other GNWT departments. The Departments of Health and Social Services; Justice; Education, Culture and Employment; Executive and Indigenous Affairs; and, Housing NWT are all working together to implement programs supported by the funding.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to highlight some of the work being done through this funding agreement. An annual amount of $700,000 was included to support the Women's Shelter network, which provides much-needed critical services to those fleeing family and domestic violence. The GNWT also supports non-governmental organization partners who are essential to the implementation and success of our collaborative efforts to create programs and services that support the implementation of the national action plan. This includes funding provided to the Native Women's Association of the NWT, the Status of Women Council of the NWT, and the Northern Mosaic Network.

Mr. Speaker, when we negotiated this funding agreement, we wanted to ensure we got communities directly involved in coming up with solutions to help combat gender-based violence. The response was the development of the Gender-based Violence Community Initiative Fund. This funding contributes up to $125,000 per application to community organizations to promote awareness and prevention of gender-based violence. With this funding, the GNWT has been able to support 15 different organizations' gender-based violence prevention and awareness campaigns and programs in their home communities.

An example is the Indigenous language terminology workshop that was held in partnership with the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation. This project brought language experts and elders together to develop terms related to gender-based violence and missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. It got the conversation around gender-based violence started in the communities. One elder was quoted, "I finally let go of my secret."

During the community engagement undertaken to gather feedback on the GNWT's Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Action Plan, a concern shared was that organizations are unable to access funds because of limited capacity. In response, the gender equity division in the Department of Executive and Indigenous Affairs supports community organizations to develop their proposals and assist with preparing their reports.

Mr. Speaker, to be effective, we must also consider family violence, elder abuse, economic abuse, cyberbullying, lateral violence, and missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ individuals. By implementing an inclusive, comprehensive and coordinated approach, we will promote gender equality, and work towards a society that is aware and free from violence and discrimination. Quyanainni, Mr. Speaker.