NDP MP says action needed now to 'save Indigenous people's lives' after 6 killings by police

After Monday's emergency debate in Parliament about the killings of six First Nations people by police over a two-week span, an NDP MP says the time for talking is over.

Nunavut MP Lori Idlout said she thought there were some productive ideas brought forward in the debate including better training in de-escalation for RCMP and more cultural competency, and now the government must act.

«There needs to be a plan immediately tabled that shows how government will implement the MMIWG calls for justice as well as the TRC calls for action,» Idlout said.

The final report from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in 2019 made 231 calls for justice to address the root causes of violence against Indigenous women and girls. CBC News has reported that just two of those calls for justice have been completed.

Similarly, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission issued its report in 2015, and 18 of its 94 calls to action were on justice. They included more funding for Indigenous healing lodges, reducing the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in prisons and recognizing Indigenous legal systems.

So far, just one — holding a National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls — has been completed.

«We don't need more promises. We don't need more research. We don't need more reports or studies. We need action to help save Indigenous people's lives,» Idlout said.

She also criticized the federal government for making promises, like funding for First Nations policing, while taking years to bring legislation forward.

«By making those promises, by bringing the hopes [up] of Indigenous peoples during campaign time, it really does hurt so much to people who will vote and then to see