Executive Council
November 26, 2014

The following statement was given today in the House of Assembly by the Honourable Keith Russell, Minister of Labrador and Aboriginal Affairs:

Minister Pays Tribute to Efforts of Aboriginal Women

Mr. Speaker, yesterday was the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and marked the launch of the Provincial Government’s fifth annual Purple Ribbon Campaign to raise awareness of violence against women. Today, I rise to pay tribute to the Aboriginal women in Newfoundland and Labrador who take an active role in violence prevention and in promoting other issues of concern within their communities.

I recently had the opportunity to participate in the fourth National Aboriginal Women’s Summit at Membertou First Nation in Nova Scotia where I was joined by my colleague, the Minister of Justice and Public Safety and Minister Responsible for the Status of Women, and representatives of Aboriginal governments and organizations.

This event brought together delegates from provincial and territorial governments, National Aboriginal Organizations, and various community leaders to discuss challenges facing Aboriginal women and communities and begin the preparation of a Socio-Economic Action Plan for Aboriginal Women. This plan will be presented to the Aboriginal Affairs Working Group of provincial/territorial Ministers and leaders of the five National Aboriginal Organizations this spring before being presented to Premiers and National Aboriginal Organization leaders in July.

I also recently participated in the provincial Aboriginal Women’s Conference in Happy Valley-Goose Bay where I heard, first-hand, about the issues Aboriginal women face in their communities. I was pleased to also hear of many successes provincial Aboriginal women’s organizations have been having in addressing Aboriginal women’s issues here at home. As a government, we have made investments to help address serious issues such as violence and suicide prevention and it was encouraging to hear directly from conference participants that these investments are having an impact.

Since 2005, the Provincial Government has invested over $1.5 million to support 102 violence prevention projects sponsored by Aboriginal governments and organizations throughout the province through the Aboriginal Women’s Violence Prevention Grants Program. Earlier this month, $200,000 was awarded for 10 new projects which support the development of culturally-appropriate approaches to the prevention of violence against Aboriginal women and children in Newfoundland and Labrador.

We continue to support Aboriginal women in addressing violence and other issues that face their communities and to support the call for a national inquiry into missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls. We also recognize the importance of learning from their experiences as we seek to develop and refine policies and initiatives that impact their communities.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all Honourable Members to join me in congratulating Aboriginal women for continuing to show leadership and for the great work they do within their communities.

2014 11 26                                   2:25 p.m.