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  2. Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls

For over 30 years, families, survivors and community members and allies of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in Vancouver East have marched in the February 14th Women’s Memorial March, calling for justice. Since the 1970s, thousands of Indigenous women have gone missing or were murdered. To this day, hundreds of cases involving Indigenous women and girls remain unresolved. The National Inquiry into MMIWG’s final report called this atrocity a genocide.

To end the genocide of Indigenous women and girls, the government must fully implement all 231 calls for justice from the National Inquiry with an Indigenous women led national action plan that outline timelines, responsibilities, milestones, indicators, resources and indigenous leadership for each and every call for justice, as well as regional and sector-specific reports and recommendations.

In addition, the government must continue to listen and give full support to Indigenous women-led initiatives grassroots, including direct funding for families still in search of their loved ones.

The National Inquiry into MMIWG is a significant initiative the government has undertaken. I applaud this important move and have high hopes and dreams that this inquiry will bring justice so many have sought for so long. The inquiry must also move beyond studying systemic causes of violence—it must address them, too.

Media Release: Demands Accountability Following "Jaw-Dropping" Revelations of RCMP Surveillance of Indigenous Leaders

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Jenny Kwan Demands Accountability Following "Jaw-Dropping" Revelations of RCMP Surveillance of Indigenous Leaders

The recent media reports about the RCMP’s so-called “Native extremism program” are deeply troubling, not just as a matter of history, but for what they say about Canada’s institutions and their racist relationship with Indigenous peoples. What these documents show is not targeted security work against credible threats, but a sweeping, intrusive campaign that treated legitimate political advocacy as something to be monitored, controlled, and even disrupted. It is jaw-dropping to hear about Intelligence dossiers stuffed with documents, wiretaps. paid informants, covert operatives with code numbers. Dozens of First Nations leaders were put under surveillance.

Indigenous leaders and organizations were engaged in lawful, democratic efforts—advocating for land rights, self-determination, and fair treatment. To label that as “extremism” reflects a profoundly biased and colonial mindset. The scale of surveillance—wiretaps, informants, and infiltration into private spaces—raises serious concerns about violations of basic civil liberties, including privacy, freedom of association, and political expression. It also begs the question of the extent of surveillance today by the Canadian government of legitimate political advocacy by Indigenous activists and organizations.

Equally concerning is the intent behind the intelligence gathering. These were not just passive observations; the files were used to divide movements, withdraw funding, and interfere with organizing. That crosses a line from intelligence into active political interference.

This history matters today because trust in public institutions remains fragile in many Indigenous communities. When the state is seen to have weaponized its power in this way, it leaves a lasting legacy of suspicion and harm. With the Carney governments new Bill C-22, we once again see the hallmarks of government overreach. 

I'm calling today on the Minister of Public Safety to release all the remaining files on this issue and commit to holding public hearings with witnesses on these disturbing revelations so that Indigenous communities can have accountability for the harms that have been done by Canadian law enforcement and security agencies.

NDP Media Release: Red Dress Day 2024

"On Red Dress Day, New Democrats would like to honour all those who continue to work tirelessly to end the ongoing genocide of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and gender diverse people (MMIWG2S+), including families, survivors, advocates and Indigenous women. For far too long this crisis has been neglected, and it is inspiring to see the work of Indigenous community members in ending the violence.

In 2023, an NDP motion to recognize the crisis of MMIWG2S+ as a Canada-wide emergency received support from all parties in the House of Commons. Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ peoples are roughly six times more likely to be murdered than their non-Indigenous counterparts throughout Canada, and 19 times more likely in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. These numbers are extremely disturbing, and leaders at all levels of government must do everything in their power to stop this ongoing genocide.

CBC: Victims' families, women's advocates demand RCMP halt plan to dispose of Robert Pickton evidence

CBC: Victims' families, women's advocates demand RCMP halt plan to dispose of Robert Pickton evidence

The seven-page letter released Monday, titled "A Call To Preserve Evidence In The Pickton Case," is endorsed by nearly three dozen different organizations from across Canada, including several Indigenous women's groups, as well as several academics and other people including Vancouver East MP Jenny Kwan.

The letter is co-signed by Sue Brown, a director and staff lawyer with the group Justice for Girls, and Sasha Reid, who is behind a database of missing people and unsolved murders in Canada.

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