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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