Open Letter: Continue funding for 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence
Open Letter: Continue funding for 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence
January 22, 2026
Hon. Rechie Valdez
Minister of Women and Gender Equality
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6
Via email: [email protected]
Dear Minister Valdez,
We write you today to bring forward an urgent request following the December 2025 16 Days of Activism
Against Gender-Based Violence, for continuation of federal funding to two crisis and information lines
serving survivors of violence whose services are at risk if federal funding is not re-affirmed and renewed
before March 2026.
The Salal Sexual Violence Support Centre, based in BC, provides no-cost care to women, trans, Two-Spirit
& nonbinary survivors of sexualized violence. One of their services is Salal’s 24-Hour Crisis & Information
Line. In the first eleven months of 2025, Crisis & information Line staff answered 2,878 calls and
supported 622 text and chat conversations from survivors and their loved ones, noting that in this
period, the line was oversubscribed; 1,259 calls went unanswered due to capacity limits. Statistics
provided to us by the organization show that 30-40% of all contacts come from outside British Columbia,
with Toronto as the most frequent out-of-province city – meaning that the line, in reality, serves as a part
of a national emergency response to the crisis of gender-based violence.
The Indian Residential School Survivors Society (IRSSS), also based in BC, provides essential services to
residential school survivors and families experiencing intergenerational trauma, including the Lamathut
24/7 Indigenous Crisis Line. While the line and the Society are also based in BC, we were provided with
data from the organization showing that in the previous fiscal year the Indigenous Crisis Line received
3,632 calls, with 30% coming from outside BC and roughly 40% from repeat callers seeking cultural safety
and continuity of care.
The federal funding sustaining these Crisis Lines is set to end in March 2026. Even though the lines were
originally created as provincial services, they have become a de facto national crisis line for survivors.
Loss of this funding will mean thousands of survivors, including many who rely on culturally grounded
and trauma-informed support, will suddenly have nowhere to call.
The Hill Times reported on October 30, 2025, that:
“the National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence ….involved 2023 bilateral agreements
with provinces and territories, who then funded a range of grassroots organizations, including
women’s shelters and sexual support centres…. Valdez said the government is “reaffirming our
commitment” to work with the provinces and territories on the “continued implementation” of
the action plan.”
It is urgent that you act on this commitment, including by confirming the funding that will flow to these
established 24-hour crisis and information lines, in order to ensure stabilized frontline services.
If the federal funding for these crisis lines is not renewed before March 2026, survivors across Canada —
including Indigenous survivors, Queer and Trans survivors, rural survivors, and survivors fleeing
immediate violence — will lose access to two of the only fully dedicated GBV crisis lines in the country.
Minister, it is not enough to say in words that you wish to strengthen federal action to deal with gender-
based violence.
It’s your actions and the resources you devote to survivors’ urgent need for support when and where
they need it that are the true test of your commitment to ending gender-based violence.
Therefore, we ask: Will you immediately commit to maintaining WAGE funding for these critical crisis
lines for survivors of gender-based violence and Canada’s residential school system, which now serve a
national caller base?
Will you immediately work with your provincial counterparts ensure that the funds flow without
interruption so that there is no interruption to the services provided by the Salal and IRSSS crisis &
information lines?
Thank you in advance for your attention to this request, and your response.
Sincerely,
Leah Gazan
MP for Winnipeg Centre
NDP Critic for Women and Gender Equality
Jenny Kwan
MP for Vancouver East
Cc:
Hon. Nina Krieger, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General (BC)
Via email: [email protected]
Ms. Jennifer Blatherwick, Parliamentary Secretary for Gender Equity (BC)
Via email: [email protected]
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The rally is organized by the Hong Kong Pathway Alliance. Similar events are also taking place in Calgary and Toronto.
The pathway allows eligible Hong Kong residents in Canada, including people who studied or worked here, to apply for PR.
People here say they have waited for years and still do not know when their applications will be finished.
“Right now I’m stuck in limbo. It’s been a year and a half. I haven’t heard back from the IRCC regarding my application, and we’re continuously arguing with, we’re continuously hoping that IRCC sees our cases,” said Vikrambir Singh, another demonstrator.
“There’s not just me, there’s 40,000 plus applications that are stuck in limbo, and we don’t know when they’re going to get processed.”
They also point to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s (IRCC) processing time tool, which now suggests new applicants could wait more than 10 years for their PR.
The Immigration Minister recently told Parliament that there have been more than 46,000 applications under the Hong Kong PR pathways, and just over 13,000 had arrived.
“And the minister’s solution is, “don’t apply under the lifeboat scheme”. What is she even talking about? That scheme was specifically designed for Hong Kongers, said MP Jenny Kwan, representing Vancouver East for the NDP.
“So, it is absolutely outrageous that she would renege on the government’s promise in suggesting that the Hong Kongers should apply under a different stream. It is absolutely unacceptable.”
The federal government introduced special measures for Hong Kong residents in 2020, after China imposed the national security law in Hong Kong.
*Click image or link to read or watch the TV news story - https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2026/06/07/demonstrators-rally-hong-kong-pr-processing-backlog/
OTTAWA—The Canadian government is considering the use of artificial intelligence to save time creating influential assessment profile reports of offenders as they go to federal prisons, and is running a small-scale trial to test it, the Star has learned.
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Mentioned in lengthy documents tabled in Parliament last month and confirmed by Correctional Service Canada (CSC), the test run comes as the Carney government tries to ramp up AI adoption, including with billions in a national strategy released this week.
But the prison trial, which CSC says has not yet been used in real cases, is raising concerns from AI experts, criminal defence lawyers and the federal NDP’s public safety critic, who argue a widespread adoption could lead to crucial errors, exacerbate racial biases and put offenders and victims at risk.
Criminal profile reports, as they are called, are detailed “foundational documents” prepared by CSC staff during a prisoner’s intake process that identify risks and play a role in major decisions like access to programs and likelihood of parole.
Drawing from scores of official documents, they include details about an offender’s criminal history, the circumstances of their crimes, patterns of violence or behavioural, mental health and addiction issues, family and social background, trauma history, education and employment records, and even victim impact statements.
“This is what defines your offence cycle,” criminal defence lawyer Nora Demnati said of those reports. “It will have an impact on everything else that comes.”
That’s why the Carney government should slow down and consult widely, including with the CSC union, its lawyers and the Privacy Commissioner of Canada before going further, said NDP MP Jenny Kwan, the party’s public safety critic. Neither the Union of Safety and Justice Employees or the Office of the Privacy Commissioner have been consulted yet, they told the Star.
Kwan warned of a multitude of legal concerns that go both ways and can have a “cascading impact”: Violating the rights of inmates if mistakes are added to reports, on one hand, or hurting victims and prison staff if crucial information is missed by the AI summaries, on the other.
“When you have those kinds of risks associated with correctional policing matters, you can imagine what the huge ramifications might be,” Kwan told the Star. “You could potentially compromise people’s legal rights.”