Caroline Wawzonek, Minister Responsible for the Status of Women, tabled the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) action plan in Response to the Calls for Justice on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People.
The action plan, Changing the Relationship, aims to dismantle colonialism and racial and gendered discrimination from all levels of government and public institutions. It explains how the GNWT will work to change the relationship between its departments, agencies, employees, policies, and processes, and their daily encounters with Indigenous women, girls and gender diverse people.
Minister Wawzonek initially introduced the action plan in November 2020 as a draft and committed to engage with Indigenous governments, community governments, other partners, people with lived experience and all NWT residents to seek feedback before finalizing the plan.
Between May 31 and September 13, the GNWT Gender Equity Division travelled to 12 NWT communities to conduct engagement. The updated action plan reflects the feedback received during engagement, as well as updated information from GNWT departments and agencies. Minister Wawzonek also tabled a What We Heard report detailing the engagement.
