Standing Committee on the Status of Women

Comité permanent de la condition féminine

For immediate release

Ottawa, September 16, 2024 -

The House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status of Women (the Committee) tabled its report entitled "Implementing a Red Dress Alert in Canada" today.

Given the ongoing national crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous women, girls (MMIWG) and Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, Asexual and/or gender diverse or non-binary (2SLGBTQQIA+) people, on 2 May 2023, the House of Commons unanimously consented to the motion proposed by Member of Parliament Leah Gazan (Winnipeg Centre) which provides:

That, given that,

(i) on October 27, 2022, the House unanimously recognized that what happened in residential schools was genocide,

(ii) decades of insufficient action from all levels of government have failed to address the effects of this genocide, including the crisis of violence against Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people with the urgency it deserves,

(iii) families in Winnipeg and throughout the country continue to experience the tragic loss of a loved one to this crisis, the House call on the government to:

(a) declare the continued loss of Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people a Canada-wide emergency; and

(b) provide immediate and substantial investment, including in a red dress alert system, to help alert the public when an Indigenous woman, girl or two-spirit person goes missing.

Implementing a Red Dress Alert in Canada is an urgent and integral step towards addressing the Canada-wide emergency of MMIWG and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people in Canada. As such, the Committee undertook a study to explore the most effective and efficient manner to operate, administer and control a Red Dress Alert in Canada. The Committee’s report amplifies the voices and experiences of families and survivors, as well as of individuals and community organizations working on the frontlines of this Canada-wide emergency.

The Committee’s report provides an overview of the crisis of MMIWG and 2SLGBTQIA+ people in Canada, as well as current federal initiatives to address this Canada-wide emergency. In addition, existing national and community level alerting systems in Canada are discussed. Finally, the report focuses on considerations related to implementing a Red Dress Alert in Canada. Ongoing consultations and engagements should continue to explore the following considerations to make sure they are reflected in a Red Dress Alert system in Canada:

• ensuring that a Red Dress Alert in Canada is Indigenous-led;
• addressing jurisdictional challenges related to public alerting in Canada;
• identifying the ways in which, if any, police should be involved in the alert;
• implementing an effective system in rural, remote and northern regions, including expanded broadband and telecommunications initiatives; and
• providing wraparound, culturally sensitive and trauma-informed support services for survivors and their families.

In its report, the Committee put forward 17 recommendations to the Government of Canada, to ensure the implementation of an effective and efficient Red Dress Alert system in Canada that is Indigenous-led.

The report can be consulted on the Committee’s web page on the Parliament of Canada website.