On funding, Ottawa discriminates against Inuit women: Pauktuutit

Pauktuutit President Rebecca Kudloo says the Inuit women’s organization has analyzed federal funding for violence against women programs and found Inuit funding lacking. (FILE PHOTO)

Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada says the federal government has discriminated against Inuit women in its funding of programs designed to tackle violence against Aboriginal women across the country.

Over the past few months, Pauktuutit has analyzed the government’s Action Plan to Address Family Violence and Violent Crimes Against Aboriginal Women and Girls, released this past September.

The plan flows from recommendations made by 16 MPs who sat last March on the Special Committee on Violence Against Indigenous Women.

The $25-million action plan — money already identified in the federal government’s 2014 budget — includes programs to be funded between 2015 and 2020.

That money is meant to fund initiatives such as community safety plans, projects to break intergenerational cycles of abuse, family shelters and the creation of a DNA-based missing persons index.

But of $7 million envelope earmarked for family violence prevention activities for 2014-15, Pauktuutit says that the organization will receive only $75,000 — roughly one per cent of available funds.

Also, of that $7 million, $4 million is allocated specifically to fund shelters, although “Inuit communities continue to be excluded from this funding,” Pauktuutit said in a Dec. 4 release.

“Of the $27 million dollars in annual funding that is available to Aboriginal organizations across Canada, Inuit women, through Pauktuutit, are accessing only $155,000,” said Pauktuutit president Rebecca Kudloo.

“That is one half of one per cent of the total available funding.”

As a member of one of three constitutionally-recognized indigenous peoples in Canada, Kudloo said the paltry sum given to address the serious issues Inuit women and girls face in Canada is “discriminatory and offensive to say the least.”

“This is not acceptable, nor is it a meaningful federal response to violence against Inuit women and children,” she said. “Inuit, in fact all Canadians, need to be aware of this.”

Pauktuutit says it’s concerned that much of the funding announced in September is simply a renewal of existing funding and programs.

But the organization says it will benefit from an extension of project funds to engage boys and men in reducing violence, money made available through Status of Women Canada.

A review of the $20 million in Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development project funds targeted to Aboriginal organizations in 2014-15 shows that, as of November, not all funding has been approved.

But of funding that has been approved to date, Pauktuutit has received $80,000 to continue to work on resource extraction and economic development opportunities for Inuit women.

In the Dec. 4 release, Pauktuutit says it remains active in addressing the missing and murdered indigenous women file.

Just last month, the organization appeared before a House of Commons Committee on Justice and Human Rights to speak to the new Victims Bill of Rights.

“We highlight the issue of violence against Inuit women at every opportunity,” Kudloo said. “This week, in discussing the needs and rights of victims, we again raised the underlying issues that contribute to violence in our communities with representatives of three federal political parties.”

“We advised the committee that at the present time Pauktuutit does not have a working relationship with Justice Canada or Public Safety Canada even though these issues are within their mandates and responsibility.”

Pauktuutit is also looking for Inuit views on what its priorities should be ahead of a national roundtable planned for February 2015.

You can send your comments to mmiw@pauktuutit.ca.