Trudeau announces support of MMIWG commemoration initiatives

The Commemoration Fund which invests over $13 million in over 100 commemoration initiatives from coast to coast

In recent months, the daily lives of not-for-profit and non-governmental organizations, including organizations in northern communities, have been particularly shaken with the COVID-19 pandemic, which added further pressure on their already limited and valuable resources. The Government of Canada is committed to continuing to support them in their mission and initiatives, including commemoration, to the best of its ability.

Commemoration is a powerful way to honour truths, support healing, create awareness, and advance reconciliation. We cannot fully address the systemic causes of violence against Indigenous women, girls and LGBTQ and Two-Spirit people without acknowledging the past.

The Government of Canada created the Commemoration Fund which invests over $13 million in over 100 commemoration initiatives from coast to coast to coast to help honour the lives and legacies of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, including LGTBQ and Two-Spirit people.

As part of this investment, the Honourable Pablo Rodriguez, Quebec Lieutenant and Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, on behalf of the Honourable Maryam Monsef, Canada’s Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development, announced today that the Government of Canada is providing $100,000 in support of the Inuulitsivik Health Centre’s On the Land workshops-commemoration events in the communities of Puvirnituq and Inukjuak, Quebec, and for the commission of a commemoration sculpture. This project will help honour the lives and legacies of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and LGBTQ and Two-Spirit people, and increase awareness about this ongoing national tragedy.

This responds to the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls’ interim report, issued in November 2017, and stems from a Call for Proposals launched by Minister Monsef under the Commemoration Fund in February 2019.

The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls submitted its Final Report on June 3, 2019. The Government of Canada is working to end this national tragedy with Indigenous, provincial and territorial partners. They are continuing to co-develop the National Action Plan and to recognize and honour missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and LGBTQ and Two-Spirit people, and support the healing of families, survivors and First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities.

More great reading