NDP Statement on the 31st Annual Women’s Memorial March

NDP Critic for Women and Gender Equality, Leah Gazan, issued the following statement:

“February 14 marks the annual memorial march in honour of the lives of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls & 2SLGBTQQIA. It is also a day to uplift grassroots efforts, including the voices of survivors of violence, communities and family members who have lost loved ones to this ongoing genocide.

This is an important day to demonstrate our strength, resiliency, and collective power in the face of systems, rooted in colonial violence, that continue to place Indigenous women, girls & 2SLGBTQQIA at greater risk for violence. It is an ongoing genocide that has been acknowledged by many organizations including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, several UN bodies, Sisters in Spirit, the Native Women Association of Canada, Quebec Native Women, survivors of violence, as well as family members and communities who continue to seek justice for loved ones who have been murdered or gone missing.

As we are witnessing the current illegal occupation in Ottawa, it is becoming even more clear to the public that systems designed to protect us are riddled with systemic racism. This was noted in the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, who identified specific Calls for Justice related to policing. It is grounded in the practice of ‘othering’ that results in the kind of apathy and dehumanization of Indigenous women, girls & 2SLQBTQQIA individuals. Despite the increasing rates of violence during the pandemic, which has frequently resulted in death, this 'othering' is continually used to justify the government's reluctance to implement all of the Calls for Justice from the National Inquiry into Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls.

As we march today or find other ways to honour our sisters, aunties, grandmothers, daughters, and two spirit relatives, let us send our love to those recovering from the impacts of violence and to the relatives we continue to search for. We will not be silenced, marginalized, or abused. We are powerful in all our beauty and strength.”