National Action Plan Components

Immediate Next Steps

The National Inquiry’s Call for Justice 1.1(i) called for development and implementation of a flexible and distinctions-based National Action Plan, including regionally-specific plans with devoted funding and timelines for implementation, rooted in local cultures and communities of diverse Indigenous identities, with measurable goals and necessary resources dedicated to capacity building, sustainability, and long-term solutions. This 2021 National Action Plan lays out guiding principles, goals, shortterm priorities, immediate next steps, and a strategy/action plan from the National Family and Survivors Circle, Contributing Partners, and provinces/territories. As discussed below, an in-depth implementation plan for the National Action Plan will be developed with more specific information on the short-term priorities, as well as the identification of medium- and long-term priorities. In addition, it will include funding, timelines and who is responsible for implementation.

The National Action Plan is not intended to be a final plan but one that is evergreen and requires monitoring and reporting on progress, as well as further co-development and course correction as required. It also needs to be flexible to address the needs of remote, rural, and urban communities. On the path to ending violence, reclaiming power and place, and restoring the roles and responsibilities of Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people, some of the 231 Calls for Justice and 62 Calls for Miskotahâ can be implemented fairly quickly. However, others will require careful planning to achieve the desired results.

The National Inquiry’s Call for Justice 1.1 calls upon federal, provincial, territorial, municipal, and Indigenous governments, in partnership with Indigenous people, to develop and implement a National Action Plan to address violence against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people. The following are immediate next steps that governments and representative Indigenous organizations will focus on over the next 12 months to implement the National Action Plan.

1. Immediate Support Services for Survivors and Family Members
   • Provide funding to establish accessible healing and support services for survivors and family members of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people wherever they are.
   • Develop a comprehensive approach for providing support to Indigenous and 2SLGBTQQIA+ victims and families/ friends of Indigenous missing or murdered Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people.
2. Continued Involvement of Survivors and Family Members in the Implementation of the National Action Plan
   • With adequate funding, the National Family and Survivors Circle will develop and implement an engagement strategy that provides further opportunity for family and survivors to provide insight and input into the National Action Plan’s next steps.
   • The Contributing Partners will continue to complete their Action and Implementation Plans built upon their engagement with survivors and family members.
3. Create an Oversight Body
   • Creation of an oversight body which represents the interests of families, survivors, and Indigenous communities by investigating and addressing complaints of mal-administration or a violation of right.
4. Public Awareness and Training
   • Begin immediate work on the development of a public education/awareness campaign on the issues Indigenous people experience and to challenge the acceptance and normalization of violence against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people.
   • Implement trauma-informed training for those who work with Indigenous people, on topics such as history, culture, issues, anti-racism, anti-sexism, anti-homophobia, anti-transgender, etc.
5. Immediate Development of an Implementation Plan
   • Develop an Implementation Plan for the National Action Plan that includes the short-term priorities identified in the National Action Plan, as well as medium- and long-term priorities that will lead to real systemic change.
   • Each priority will include specific actions, expected outcomes, timelines, and resources.
   • Determine mechanisms and processes for national independent oversight and coordination of the National Action Plan, that includes Contributing Partners and governments with financial support.
   • Continuance of Contributing Partners to continue to develop their implementation plans.
   • Clearly define the roles and responsibilities of all governments (federal, provincial/territorial, municipal, Indigenous) and Indigenous organizations to implement the 231 Calls for Justice and 62 Calls for Miskotahâ.
   • Develop an accountability/results structure for the National Action Plan.
   • An Indigenous and gender-based analysis plus (GBA Plus) lens will be applied to the implementation plan.
6. Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Federal-Provincial/Territorial Table
   • Create a Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Federal-Provincial/Territorial Table to provide a specific forum to consider and coordinate intergovernmental collaboration and discussion on various areas such as administrative issues, policy, resourcing, resolution of interjurisdictional responsibilities, and processes that emerge from the implementation of the National Action Plan.
7. Create Accountability Mechanisms for the Reporting on the 231 Calls for Justice and the 62 Calls for Miskotahâ
   • Create broad accountability mechanisms rooted in Indigenous data sovereignty focused on truth-telling to ensure the National Inquiry’s 231 Calls for Justice and LFMO’s 62 Calls for Miskotahâ are implemented by all governments (federal, provincial/territorial, municipal, Indigenous) and organizations, and their outcomes are measured for effectiveness in creating transformative change and achieving decolonization. This could be part of the responsibilities of the independent committee or working group.
   • Create data accountability mechanisms rooted in Indigenous Data Sovereignty.
   • Create an independent web portal to post annual reports which track the progress on responding to the Calls for Justice and Calls for Miskotahâ.
   • By June 2022, publish the first annual report on progress in responding to the Calls for Justice and the Calls for Miskotahâ.

Monitoring Progress

Monitoring the progress of actions to address all 231 Calls for Justice will require long term and sustained effort from governments, institutions, and other parties fulfilling their responsibilities for change. As part of this work, monitoring process and progress will be a critical component of understanding how to adapt strategies and approaches to create and achieve transformative change to Reclaim Power and Place as Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people starting now. In today’s environment, data is an important resource with the potential to influence policy and decision-making.

Indigenous Peoples have always created, used, and been stewards of our own data, employing unique methodologies and practices. Indigenous knowledge systems are based upon generations of these data practices. These practices and methodologies have been ignored. In addition, for too long, Indigenous Peoples have been identified, misidentified, or not identified, as well as analyzed, and researched without consent or participation. These methods, as a whole, have reinforced systemic oppression and perpetuated poor relationships. In particular, many non-Indigenous methodologies for collecting and analyzing data have placed Indigenous Peoples and individuals within a deficit lens, leading to even more stereotyping and harm. Indigenous people are reclaiming self-determination in research through Indigenous Data Sovereignty and various Indigenous-developed research tools such as the principles of Ownership, Control, Access, and Possession® (OCAP®), the National Inuit Strategy on Research, and other tools and models.

With that understanding, this section describes work underway on a National Action Plan Data Strategy that understands the history of this issue and that sees the possibilities ahead. This Data Strategy is presented as a preliminary step in understanding long-term progress that must ultimately occur in partnership with Indigenous Peoples and include monitoring within a much broader lens. This work is still in early stages – it begins by looking at quantitative data, but does not see quantitative data as all that is needed.

This strategy provides some suggestions for a path forward founded in a recognition of, and respect for, Indigenous Data Sovereignty and for the essential role of Indigenous Peoples in data collection and analysis that involves them as the first stage of building a monitoring framework that is responsive to the principles that must support this work.

Please note that this section details the work undertaken by the National Action Plan Data Sub-Working Group, which included representatives from Indigenous organizations and governments as well as Indigenous researchers and data specialists. Many contributing partners have also undertaken additional work on identifying key structures for monitoring progress and for accountability. Therefore, in addition to the information contained in this section, we encourage you to consult the full Data Strategy, as well as the reports of all National Action Plan Contributing Partners which may contain more detailed and distinctions-based information on their approaches to some of these questions.

Creating New Pathways for Data: The 2021 National Action Plan Data Strategy

Introduction and Commitment

The Data Sub-Working Group was mandated to develop a Data Strategy for the National Action Plan. To do so, it worked to gain more understanding of relevant data holdings, as well as the qualitative and quantitative data upon which the National Inquiry’s Final Report was based; to identify data needs to support the development of the National Action Plan; and, to define data outcomes for the implementation of the Plan.

During the course of its work, the Data Sub-Working Group heard numerous presentations from experts and from other working groups, in order to build knowledge to make informed decisions. Further, the Co-Chairs and individual members liaised with the Core Working Group and other Contributing Partners to ensure that there was alignment and support from the work of the Data Sub-Working Group.

A Technical Data Sub-Working Group was struck as part of the process. This technical group assessed the viability of the initial quantitative indicators and began reviewing data availability and data gaps. The Data Sub-Working Group has made progress on its mandate to this point in time, through the development of key elements of the National Action Plan Data Strategy and a supporting Quantitative Indicator Framework as a starting point in an evolving data strategy that will come to include qualitative data and research that reflects the principles of Indigenous Data Sovereignty.

Purpose and Objectives

The National Action Plan Data Strategy is rooted in, and will promote, Indigenous Data Sovereignty. Affirming the right to reliable and accessible data is essential to monitoring, accountability and supporting the rights enshrined in First Nations, Inuit and Métis data sovereignty, the National Action Plan Data Strategy supports positive change toward the achievement of the objectives of the Plan. It does this in three primary ways, including:

• identifying existing data sources and the role they may play in reporting and accountability, now and for the future
• designing a preliminary quantitative indicator framework addressing current realities that will allow for monitoring progress in reducing violence against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people, as well as monitoring the effectiveness of legislation, policy and programs intended to contribute to the objectives of the National Action Plan; and,
• identifying data gaps that, if addressed, may provide the full range of data necessary to assess progress in reducing violence and promoting justice.

Members of the Sub-Working Group have indicated the importance of the latter, noting that quantitative data alone is not a sufficient basis for measuring progress, and that development should include the creation of relevant qualitative indicators, as well as further research in relevant areas led by Indigenous researchers. Existing data tools in use by governments with respect to Indigenous Peoples and realities are largely flawed and cannot be the only basis upon which results are assessed.

Principles for Data and Overall Organization

The National Action Plan Data Strategy is organized by the Data Sub-Working Group through principles adapted from those created by the National Family and Survivors’ Circle. Data Sub-Working Group members were inspired by the way in which these principles, when applied to data, can help to guide the work ahead. The National Family and Survivors Circle’s principles include: inclusion, impact, interconnectedness, and accountability.

In particular, the principle of inclusion applied to this Data Strategy means that it is a strategy for all Indigenous people, regardless of status, area of residence or other elements of diversity. The National Action Plan Data Strategy also respects the diversity of all First Nations, Inuit, and Métis people in Canada, and other Indigenous and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people regardless of where they may be, understanding that indicators may be further refined in a way that is most relevant for them. Inclusion for the ongoing development of the strategy will also be measured by the full and active involvement of families of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people, and survivors of gender-based violence in the process of creating transformative change to reclaim power and place as Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people through substantive equality, equity, and dignity.

The ultimate outcome, centred in the National Action Plan Data Strategy, is the safety of Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people. Any evaluation of results of actions must be defined by how impacts are felt on the ground by Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people, families, and survivors.

Understanding the Indicators

An indicator is a specific, observable, and measurable characteristic that can be used to show changes or progress that an action or program is making toward achieving an outcome. The Data Strategy names general, versus specific indicators, understanding that the specificity of each one should be pursued within the context of engagement with different Indigenous groups or distinctions.

Each general indicator within the Strategy is included within one of the four thematic clusters: culture, health and wellness, human security, and justice. These thematic clusters are grounded in the respect for Indigenous human rights that include inherent, Treaty, and Constitutional rights, and in the responsibilities of all governments, institutions, and organizations, for the work undertaken to address violence. Indicators selected reflect a clear focus on prevention and identifying sources of strength, while addressing important gaps that serve to target Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people.

Data Strategy at a Glance

Inclusion, as specific to data, means the full and active participation of all Indigenous people, including non-Status, First Nation, Inuit, Métis and 2SLGBTQQIA+, regardless of where they live. This means that data must be inclusive, but also be applied as needed in distinctions-based and disaggregated ways.

Interconnectedness is central to Indigenous world views. As specific to data, it refers to the way in which the four thematic clusters in the data strategy interrelate. It also relates the data development, and the interconnectedness of quantitative and qualitative data.

Accountability, as specific to data, is the shared accountability that collecting data leads to. It means that once data is gathered, and progress is tracked, action can be taken. It also refers to the important relationships that must animate the process for true and meaningful accountability.

Impact, as it pertains to data, refers to creating meaningful effect on policy, legislation and society at large. The data strategy will monitor impact through measurable progress toward the ultimate outcome, safety for Indigenous women and girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people.

The four thematic clusters – Culture, Health & Wellness, Human Security, and Justice – are from Reclaiming Power and Place.

The Quantitative Indicator Framework

The Quantitative Indicator Framework outlines quantitative indicators which fall under the four thematic clusters: Culture, Health and Wellness, and Human Security and Justice. These thematic clusters form the structure for the Framework, with the broadly defined quantitative indicators as the more fluid elements. The Quantitative Indicator Framework will remain evergreen as indicators continue to be selected, refined, and enhanced in order to best contribute to the measurement of the ultimate indicator of safety. They are interrelated but grouped under a specific cluster for organizational purposes.

Quantitative Indicators

Culture

• Access to traditional food
• Access to spirituality/ceremony
• Connection to culture for children, youth, adults and seniors
• Sense of belonging/ identity
• Language retention and revitalization
• Cultural mentorship

Health & wellness

• Self-rated health
• Access to health services
• Perception of healthy relationships
• Distance to services
• Self-rated mental wellness
• Access to land
• Access to traditional medicines and healers

Human security

• Employment rate
• Graduation rate
• Access to education and training
• Access to broadband
• Poverty
• Transportation
• Housing conditions
• Safe spaces/shelters
• Emergency infrastructure
• Other community safety and social supports
• Food insecurity
• Access to traditional systems of protection
• Industries in communities

Justice

• Indigenous police forces or law enforcement connection to community
• Training of justice personnel
• Indigenous justice personnel
• Case before courts/arrests
• Confidence in the system
• Restorative justice/traditional justice programs
• Navigator programs ie FILU
• 2S and trans-specific issues, ie X markers

Next Steps

The Data Sub-Working Group also continues to examine the best measurement approach that centres relationships and ensures accountability. In doing so, it is informing the development of the data needed for the strategy, including general recommendations pertaining to the need for development of qualitative data sources.

The Data Sub-Working Group also understands the urgency of developing a National Action Plan Data Strategy that will move the Plan into action. Continuing work will centre the National Family and Survivors Circle as well as other key stakeholders. While maturing these relationships, the Data Sub- Working Group will also confirm the specific core and group-specific quantitative indicators, and develop recommendations, to be included in the Quantitative Indicator Framework. It will also confirm the National Action Plan Data Strategy with key stakeholders. While the Technical Data Sub-Working Group continues examining the viability of each quantitative indicator and data availability and development, the Data Sub-Working Group recommends the need for Indigenous-led data collection, in distinctions-based and identity-based terms, including development of quantitative, qualitative, and Indigenous-led research according to Indigenous research ethics, as an urgent priority to move forward and to support Indigenous Data Sovereignty.

This work to develop the National Action Plan Data Strategy is informed by the opportunity to recognize that sustainable First Nations, Métis and Inuit-led data functions and systems are a prerequisite for strengthened accountability, evidence based decisionmaking, and efficient and effective governance. The Indigenous Data Sovereignty lens that is inclusive of all Indigenous worldviews and perspectives will continue to define what is important to measure and to inform how this work advanced.

First Nations, Inuit, Métis Nation, and Indigenous organizations and communities are best placed to hold broader conversations among themselves and with all governments about how the safety of Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people and progress are measured, and to ensure that high quality, culturally-relevant, disaggregated and distinctions-based data are available. The National Action Plan Data Strategy centres relationships and recognizes that sustainable First Nations, Inuit, Métisled data functions and systems are a prerequisite for strengthened accountability, evidence-based decision making, and efficient and effective Indigenous-led governance and nation-building.