Quebec Native Women Responds to the Ombudsman’s Report: Insufficient Progress and Concerning Setbacks for Indigenous Women

Kahnawà:ke, November 7, 2025 – Quebec Native Women (QNW) receives with deep concern the alarming report from the Quebec Ombudsperson (Protecteur du citoyen) on the state of implementation of the Viens Commission’s Calls to Action. This report confirms what Indigenous women have been denouncing for years: despite some local initiatives, progress remains fragmented, underfunded, and too often disconnected from the realities on the ground.

Indigenous women continue to face systemic violence, discrimination in accessing public services, and the invisibilization of their rights. The report highlights two major failures: the persistent absence of a comprehensive and structured strategy to respond to the Viens Commission’s Calls to Action, and the lack of sustainable resources to ensure cultural safety in public services—particularly in Indigenous police forces, health care, justice, and youth protection services.

Moreover, the Quebec government’s ongoing refusal to adopt the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) is particularly troubling, as it reflects a lack of political will to fully recognize the collective and individual rights of Indigenous peoples. QNW also reminds that General Recommendation No. 39 on the rights of Indigenous women and girls, issued by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), requires states to adopt concrete legislative measures to guarantee self-determination, cultural safety, protection from violence, and equitable access to services for Indigenous women and girls.

The Quebec government’s inaction in this area directly hinders the implementation of these international obligations and perpetuates the systemic inequalities faced daily by First Nations women and girls.

“Reconciliation cannot be a mere symbolic gesture. It must be driven by concrete policies, sustainable funding, and full recognition of the right to self-determination for Indigenous women and girls. Too often, our realities are ignored or sidelined in government decisions. This report from the Ombudsperson confirms what we experience every day: despite timid progress, there remains a lack of genuine political will, an absence of co-construction, and ongoing precarity in the services meant to protect us. It is time for the Quebec government to fully recognize our expertise, our leadership, and make our right to actively participate in transforming public services a reality. Reconciliation cannot exist without justice, and justice begins with listening and action,” declares Marjolaine Étienne, President of QNW.

Quebec Native Women reiterates the urgency of:

⦁ Establishing a government strategy on cultural safety, including accountability mechanisms, co-developed with First Nations and Inuit, especially women who are most affected.

⦁ Ensuring sustainable funding for Indigenous police forces, community justice services, and liaison officer positions.

⦁ Immediately launching a legislative process to adopt and enshrine UNDRIP and General Recommendation No. 39 on the rights of Indigenous women and girls into Quebec law, in close collaboration with Indigenous women, their representative organizations, and their communities.

QNW calls on the Quebec government to move from words to action: the rights of Indigenous women are at the heart of any genuine reconciliation process.

About QNW

Quebec Native Women is a non-profit organization that has represented First Nations women in Quebec, as well as Indigenous women living in urban areas, for over 50 years.

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Media Contact:

Émilie Deschênes

Media Relations Responsible

(873) 662-8558 / e.deschenes@seize03.ca

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