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On March 7th , 8th ONWA presented an in-depth Communications Training Seminar in Toronto led by Chris Allicock of Amberlight Productions Inc. The seminar was wide ranging from Media Overview – its role, it’s challenges and how it continues to change as well as its opportunities for message delivery.  Other areas included social media, confidentiality, protocols and email etiquette to name just a few.  One of the highlights was the one on one interviews with three participants where they used their new skills to navigate the interview process.

The Ontario Native Women’s Association (ONWA) fully supports Human Trafficking Awareness Day (February 22nd) as a vital tool in the effort to bring visibility to the scourge of pain and suffering taking place in the shadows of daily life across Ontario. Ontarians must understand that human trafficking is a sophisticated business with powerful interests driven by a market that increasingly is targeting younger and younger Indigenous women and girls. Networks of people engaged in human trafficking need to be identified and brought to justice. ONWA sees public awareness as a vital first step toward building a safer Ontario for Indigenous women and girls. “We need more media stories that support Indigenous women’s strength, leadership and resiliency in the fight against human trafficking which remains almost invisible in the media. It is the collective responsibility of journalists to take the opportunity on Human Trafficking Awareness Day to change misguided public perceptions, not reinforce them,” stated Cora McGuire-Cyrette, ONWA Executive Director. “Behind every human trafficking story is a human story. The story of someone’s mother, sister, daughter, who is fighting against overwhelming odds to lead the safe prosperous life that each and every one of them deserves,” stated Dawn Lavell Harvard, ONWA President. February 22nd is Human Trafficking Awareness Day. ONWA satellite offices and partnerships, in Thunder Bay and across Ontario, will participate in activities that invite our communities to learn more about how they can be a part of the solution to ending human trafficking. For more information, please contact: Andre Morriseau, Communications Manager Ontario Native Women’s Association (ONWA) Email: amorriseau@onwa.ca Phone: (647) 970-7661

The MMIWG Inquiry is hearing closing submissions in Ottawa today before moving on to drafting the Inquiry’s final recommendations. The Ontario Native Women’s Association (ONWA) is voicing deep concern that you can’t talk about MMIWG without addressing the crisis of Human Trafficking. We know that Indigenous women and girls are over-represented in Human Trafficking and they continue to be societies most vulnerable and targeted group due to systemic racism and gender discrimination. In 2017, ONWA was selected to deliver the Indigenous Anti-Human Trafficking Liaisons (IAHTL) project under Ontario’s Strategy to End Human Trafficking. ONWA listened to and engaged with the brave survivors, who shared their lived experiences to ensure that that other women and girls could be protected. Based on extensive engagement with over 3,360 community members and the ongoing relationship with 250 self-identified human trafficking survivors who have shared their stories, ONWA has developed 14 recommendations, which we propose to implement through a six part strategy rooted in relationship and collaboration. Survivor- centred and survivor informed services that are culture and gender based and delivered in a trauma-informed approach. Prevention through education, training and public awareness campaigns, both in print and in person, targeting those who are most at risk and those who can respond first to the signs, namely peers, parents and educators. Access to safe and respectful spaces at service delivery agencies that offer women only programming so women can speak openly and without fear about their experiences. Core supports for transitioning to a new life, including emergency funding for immediate relocation, which is delivered in an expedient and efficient manner to ensure women and girls have no wait times to safety. Evidence-based policy and system reform informed by survivor expertise and the successful extraction of Indigenous women by ONWAs multi-partner collaborative network that works across government, disciplines and professions. Streamlined supports offered through a barrier free simplified process. It is key that when a victim is identified, all barriers are removed to ensure they are survivors. #safeSPACES For more information, please contact: Andre Morriseau, Communications Manager Ontario Native Women’s Association (ONWA) Phone: (647) 970-7661

The Ontario Native Women’s Association (ONWA) is committed to working with Thunder Bay Police Service (TBPS) to ensure the recommendations of the Broken Trust report, released today, are fully implemented. The report acknowledges something we already know – Indigenous women and girls confront racism every day and that racism ends in violence and injustice. The independent review examined 37 sudden death investigations conducted by the Thunder Bay Police Service (TBPS). Gerry McNeilly, Independent Review Director, recommends that nine of those cases be re-investigated. Four of the nine cases put forward to be re-opened, involve the deaths of Indigenous women. The findings detail investigators failed to protect and treat Indigenous people without discrimination on an unacceptable number of occasions. In the most forceful action taken to date to address the “crisis of confidence” between the TBPS and the Indigenous community, the report made 44 recommendations. “Gerry McNeilly has laid out a detailed path on how to address systemic discrimination within the TBPS and how we can move forward together to ensure a safer community for everyone. We welcome the opportunity to work with the TBPS to provide support and collaborate on implementation of the recommendations,” said ONWA Executive Director, Cora Lee McGuire-Cyrette. For more information, please contact: Andre Morriseau, Communications Manager Ontario Native Women’s Association (ONWA) Phone: (647) 970-7661

Ontario Native Women’s Association (ONWA) Executive Director, Cora Lee McGuire-Cyrette inspired the heart and honoured the families of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls National Inquiry (MMIWG-NI) in Ottawa today. ONWA does not speak on behalf of Indigenous women, we speak to Indigenous women’s issues. The organization has always spoken from the perspective of what can we do to help in the daily lives of Indigenous women; “We talk with Indigenous women. We listen to them. And then we take action.” ONWA started out serving on average 500 community members annually, today that number exceeds 10,000. ONWA asks what do Indigenous women need to be empowered in all aspects of their lives? ONWA does this, the Commission needs to do this. They have heard directly from the families. And now is the time to act on what they have heard. In terms of policing, McGuire-Cyrette referenced Gerry McNeilly’s Broken Trust report released in Thunder Bay yesterday as being a template for best practices across the country for all police services to help ensure safety of Indigenous women and girls. In the early 1990’s, Indigenous communities in and around Thunder Bay raised concerns about the quality of Thunder Bay Police Service (TBPS) investigations into the deaths of Indigenous people. A Grassroots Committee on Native Unsolved Murders was formed. In 1993, the committee circulated a 3,000-signature petition requesting that a federal inquiry be established to look into the circumstances of 18 unsolved deaths of Aboriginal people. ONWA fully supported the petition. Further on, McGuire-Cyrette spoke of the sacred bond between mother and child and how that bond and the roles of mothers have been usurped by colonization: “Indigenous women have an inherent right to pass on who we are to our children. Being a mother is the oldest profession in the world. Due to colonial systems like the Indian Act, the Human Rights of Indigenous Women have been denied. We have to stop creating a line in the sand and create one category of status 6(1)(a) for all First Nations people”. A part of the impact of colonization is the current Human Trafficking crisis and it’s disproportionate impact on Indigenous women and girls. “Recommendations can’t be made to the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls National Inquiry without addressing Human Trafficking. All the issues such as housing, food security and the mother child bond are interconnected.” McGuire-Cyrette stated, “If I’m not well, you’re not well, we need love and respect.” McGuire-Cyrette called for the reinstatement of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation with a gender specific focus included in the work. There is a prophecy our Knowledge Keepers speak of – they say “when Indigenous women are restored to their rightful place as leaders, communities will become whole again.” For more information, please contact: Andre Morriseau, Communications Manager Ontario Native Women’s Association (ONWA) Phone: (647) 970-7661

Today, December 6th known as White Ribbon Day, we remember the women who have lost their lives to violence and we pay tribute to those women. Twenty nine years after the 1989 Polytechnique massacre in Montreal we continue to live in fear of violence every day. This is our reality. But it does not define who we are. We are strong, we are sacred, we are medicine. The Ontario Native Women’s Association (ONWA) stands in solidarity with all women on The National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. We invite all Ontarians to stand alongside us to end violence against women. For more information please contact: Andre Morriseau Communications Manager Ontario Native Women’s Association (ONWA) Tel: 647-970-7661 Email: amorriseau@onwa.ca