February, 06 2015, 04:00pm EDT

For Immediate Release
Contact:
Dylan Penner, Media Officer,E-mail:,dpenner@canadians.org
Support the Call for an Inquiry on Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women
WASHINGTON
Over the past three years the Council of Canadians has repeatedly called for a national inquiry on murdered and missing Indigenous women.
Indigenous women make up 4.3 per cent of the Canadian population, but they account for 16 per cent of murdered women and 11.3 per cent of missing women in Canada. Over the past 30 years, 1,026 Indigenous women have been murdered and 160 are missing. We believe an inquiry is needed to understand the root causes of this situation and to develop a national action plan.
On February 26, the families of murdered and missing Indigenous women will be gathering in Ottawa. Some of them will then also participate in a roundtable meeting on this issue with provincial premiers and Indigenous organizations on February 27.
We are asking you to take action in the lead up to this by:
- writing a letter to the editor of your local newspaper to express your support for a national inquiry,
- letting your Conservative MP know that you want you them to support a national inquiry (the New Democrats, Liberals and Greens have already supported the call),
- requesting your municipal council to pass a resolution in support of a national inquiry.
A sample letter to the editor that you can send to your local newspaper can be found here. A municipal resolution recently passed by Winnipeg city council is here and can be used as a draft submission for your municipal council. The Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association, Saskatoon city council and Prince Albert city council have also passed similar resolutions.
Thank you to the Council of Canadians chapter activists from across the country who have already indicated to us that they have submitted a letter to the editor, written their Conservative MP, and intend to participate in a local solidarity march.
For more information, please click here.
Founded in 1985, the Council of Canadians is Canada's leading social action organization, mobilizing a network of 60 chapters across the country.
Office: (613) 233-4487, ext. 249LATEST NEWS
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Sep 26, 2023
The International Energy Agency said Tuesday that the rapid acceleration of clean energy growth worldwide has kept the Paris climate accord's critical 1.5°C warming target alive for now—but warned the continued burning of fossil fuels poses a dire threat to efforts to stave off the worst of the planetary crisis.
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As children across the United States have started a new academic year over the past month, many families have had to contend with federal lawmakers' refusal to guarantee universal free meals and the resulting "lunch shaming"—which three U.S. Senate Democrats hope to partially combat with new legislation to cancel student lunch debt nationwide.
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