Hon. Yvonne Boyer: Honourable senators, I rise today to speak on Senator Boniface’s Inquiry No. 10, calling the attention of the Senate to intimate partner violence, especially in rural areas across Canada, in response to the coroner’s inquest conducted in Renfrew County, Ontario.

I would like to begin by acknowledging that we are on the traditional and unceded territories of Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation. The people of this nation are the original stewards of the land. It is important to show our humility, gratefulness and respect for their stewardship by acknowledging and thanking them. When we pay our respects to the ancestors, we reaffirm our relationship with one another. In doing so, we are actively participating in reconciliation as we navigate our time together in this place.

Intimate partner violence in Canada is a significant issue that disproportionately impacts First Nations, Métis and Inuit women, particularly in rural communities. In fact, 61% of all Indigenous women in Canada have experienced some form of psychological, physical or sexual abuse at the hands of an intimate partner in their lifetime, compared to 44% of non-Indigenous women.

While I’m specifically addressing Indigenous women within my speech today, I would like to note that intimate partner violence is not limited to race, sexual orientation or gender; it can and does occur across a great diversity of people and relationship types.

The overrepresentation of Métis, Inuit and First Nations women within intimate partner violence statistics cannot be attested to an isolated factor. It is a culmination of the intergenerational trauma experienced by Indigenous peoples, colonial legacies, structural and systemic inequities that exist within our institutions, the fragmentation of services and the deep sense of institutional mistrust resulting from those relationships.

One of the prominent factors relating to Indigenous women and intimate partner violence that I would like to highlight is remoteness. The geographic isolation of many Indigenous communities has exacerbated the violent experiences that many Indigenous women face. In rural Indigenous communities, police report that intimate partner violence incidents are 10 times higher than those reported in non-Indigenous areas. That is a staggering difference.

Aside from the sheer geographical isolation that may trap a woman with her abuser, remote communities often suffer from heightened poverty, social and psychological isolation and multi-relational factors that hinder confidentiality. What seems to be clear is that remoteness fundamentally equates to a scarcity of services. Shelter and housing, medical resources and legal supports are very limited in rural areas.

The fragmentation of those services across provinces, the discrepancies between federal and provincial services and eligibility issues often deter Métis, Inuit and First Nations women from seeking support. When they do, it is extremely difficult to obtain meaningful assistance.

In addition, health care and social services that are available to Indigenous clients are often devoid of any cultural sensitivity and fail to engage Indigenous knowledge, traditions and laws. The engagement of traditional practices and cultural knowledge and values is essential to accessibility, healing and program efficacy. Culturally safe services are essential to combatting intimate partner violence.

And while there is a great deal of work to be done, I’m hopeful today to share with you some of the important developments made by some Métis, Inuit and First Nations groups across the country.

An organization called Beendigen, associated with the Anishinabe Women’s Crisis Home and Family Healing Agency in Thunder Bay, is one of the many Indigenous-run crisis centres that provide a plethora of services to Indigenous women experiencing intimate partner violence. I believe Beendigen has recognized that service fragmentation is a key deterrent for Indigenous women seeking support. It provides crisis homes, transitional housing, counselling, support for children, prenatal care, family support, court support and addiction services, all with cultural and traditional knowledge at the very centre of their service provision.

Other Indigenous-led organizations, such as Warriors Against Violence in British Columbia, are developing a unique approach to addressing intimate partner violence. Warriors Against Violence prioritizes the principles of restorative justice and reintegration. It understands the prevalence of intimate partner violence within Indigenous communities and that it stems directly from a loss of community and values that have eroded throughout time.

Warriors Against Violence works to help Indigenous families unlearn abusive and violent behaviours and reclaim traditional values of equality, honour and respect. Using traditional teachings such as the circle of life at the centre of their prevention program, Warriors Against Violence operates with the guiding principles that the best way to end intimate partner and family violence is to help men heal and break that cycle and the patterns of abuse. Their prevention program includes elders, life givers, men and youth.

The RedPath – Living Without Violence treatment program is located in Peterborough and serves 400 to 700 people a year. It was developed in 2003 to begin to break down the persistent patterns of family violence and abuse, including both physical and sexual abuse, which have never been systemically acknowledged and resolved in most Indigenous communities. Over the years, the program has grown and is now offered at dozens of locations across Canada. It makes a difference with every person who participates.

RedPath is an Indigenous-specific model that was first developed as an emotion management program and was initially piloted and delivered within the federal penitentiaries. As a result of its great success, the model was then developed into an addictions treatment program, a pre-employment program and for living without violence, which can be used with abusers and those being abused.

The underlying model in all the programs teaches facilitators and front-line workers the crucial importance of emotional health. The RedPath program is integrated into existing health and wellness programs to ensure their effectiveness and success. This program is based on an Indigenous holistic approach to healing and self-wellness to address the physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual aspects of the participants.

The most effective way to decrease problems that lead to intimate partner violence is through strengthening an individual’s identity and awareness. The core element of the intervention is to skillfully deliver tools in a group setting to provide participants with knowledge and awareness that all events and behaviours are interconnected with the past, present and future. These key concepts used to facilitate action and change are identification, communication, reflection and experience of emotions.

I would like to quote Redpath facilitator Tracey Whiteye:

As one participant told me RedPath is his ‘precious bundle’ it saved his life. He said that there is no other program out there like it — he had been to treatment centres, to grief and bereavement programs — but nothing has changed his life like RedPath — he even made his partner, and two children take the program which he says changed their lives. He said that it took him to areas that he did not know existed — to the root of his problems, where he learned to understand himself better — the roots of his childhood. It was not a surface program it uncovered the root causes and forced him to be more accountable.

Importantly, the Redpath program reconnected these Indigenous men to their Indigenous culture, identity and traditional ways. This helped the participants recognize the importance of their roles and responsibility to the family system as protectors and providers. For women and children and their families and communities, these Indigenous men were reunited back with their families as healthy fathers, uncles, brothers and grandparents.

The Redpath framework helped them in their ongoing healing and wellness in their continuum plan of care. Although these are just a few programs that are seeing success addressing intimate partner violence, there are many more across the country that must be recognized and thanked for their good work.

Honourable senators, while there is still so much to be done when it comes to the relationship between Métis, Inuit and First Nation women and intimate partner violence, I’m pleased that there are innovative, Indigenous-led initiatives that are not only aiding in offering support and access to services, but further prioritizing ideas of prevention and breaking the intergenerational patterns of abuse.

I would like to close by sharing a few key points that Indigenous communities and service providers have shared that they have found are vital in working towards ending intimate partner violence in Indigenous communities. For instance, honing productive referral pathways for Indigenous women seeking help while increasing access to crisis shelters and housing services, and developing healing and well-being services for Indigenous men. By implementing a cohesive approach, it facilitates the ending of the fragmentation of services that deter women in remote areas.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, working to engage Indigenous teachings within all intimate partner violence services and programs that aid in facilitating a culturally safe environment for Indigenous women seeking help.

As my honourable colleague Senator Boniface has noted, while our understanding of intimate partner violence has progressed, there is a long road ahead, and it is imperative that we keep in mind the disproportionate impact this issue has on Indigenous communities. Thank you, meegwetch, marsee, all my relations.