Standing Committee on the Status of Women

Comité permanent de la condition féminine

For immediate release

Ottawa, December 13, 2022 -

The House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status of Women (the committee) invites the media to a press conference following the tabling of its report on violence against Indigenous women and girls in the context of resource development projects. During the press conference, committee members will present their recommendations to the Government of Canada and explain the main findings of the report.

To ensure that resource development projects in Canada are conducted in environments that are free from violence and to respond to Calls for Justice 13.1 to 13.5 of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, the committee studied the relation between resource development and violence against Indigenous women, girls, and Two-Spirit individuals.

In 2019, the National Inquiry concluded that resource development projects can exacerbate the problem of violence against Indigenous women and girls. The report cited several contributing factors including transient workers, gender-based violence in the workplace, rotational shift work, substance abuse and addictions, and economic insecurity. Some of the Calls for Justice issued by the National Inquiry aimed to eliminate violence against Indigenous women and girls that is caused or intensified by resource extraction and development projects.

During this study, the committee heard from more than 30 witnesses, including the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth and the Honourable Michèle Audette, Senator and Former Commissioner of the National Inquiry.

The press conference will take place on Wednesday, December 14, 2022, at 4:45 p.m. (ET) in room 200 of the Sir John A. Macdonard building, located at 144 Wellington Street in Ottawa.