APTN National News
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne said she is hoping to come away from a roundtable on murdered and missing Indigenous women in Ottawa Friday with “real” commitments that come with dollar figures attached.
Speaking during the roundtable’s lunch-break, Wynne said “hollow promise are not going to be enough”
and that several family members of victims made the same case during the morning’s session.
“When we talk about action, and this was an imperative put on the table by a number of folks, if there are going to be commitments, those commitments have to be real,” said Wynne. “They can’t be hollow, there has to be money, there has to be resources attached to them.”
Wynne said her province has put proposals on the table that include an increase in the sharing of police data, a pan-Canadian awareness campaign and more supports for victims.
“Everyone around the table has been talking about the need for action,” said Wynne.
She said the issue of violence against Indigenous women is much broader than what has been suggested by federal Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bernard Valcourt and Status of Women Minister Kellie Leitch. The two Harper government ministers have suggested First Nation communities are to blame for the violence against Indigenous women.
“It runs the gamut,” said Wynne. “The central reality is that Aboriginal women and girls are much more vulnerable than other women in society.”
The roundtable has been meeting since about 8 a.m. Friday and is expected to wrap up in the late afternoon.
The meeting is being chaired by Northwest Territories Premier Bob McLeod. Valcourt and Leitch both attended the meeting.
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