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House Hansard - 189

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 2, 2023 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 189 - May/2/23
Ms. Leah Gazan (Winnipeg Centre, NDP)
  • May/2/23 8:54:43 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I have the pleasure to work with my colleague on the Standing Committee on the Status of Women. She was talking about funding announcements. I want to remind my colleague, with all due respect, of the announcement of cutting $150 million from shelters in September. We know rates of gender-based violence are increasing. Although the reasoning was emergency funding during the pandemic, the pandemic may be shifting, but the crisis of gender-based violence has been increasing and this cut is going to cost lives. We talk about $55 million over five years. We know it is inadequate. I mentioned it to the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations. I know it is inadequate because people, indigenous women, girls, two-spirit, diverse-gendered individuals and trans women, continue to be murdered and go missing at crisis levels. Just this week, we found out about a little child who had been murdered in Samson Cree Nation. Another woman in Sandy Bay, from the Roulette family, I found out has been murdered. This is a daily occurrence. For the government to praise its investments makes me feel, as an indigenous woman, that we should be satisfied, when we clearly should not be satisfied. We are yelling in the streets of Winnipeg that we are not garbage. Can one imagine? This is not a time for celebration. Although I really appreciate working with the member across the way on the status of women committee, I hope at the very least we can admit in this House the government and all governments have failed in investing to protect indigenous women and girls and diverse-gendered folks in this country. Can we please at least acknowledge that truth, because we are dying?
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