Since the gold rush, Indigenous people in Canada have been incredibly mistreated by colonizers.

Whether it be the attempted cultural genocide of the Residential School system or the Indian Act, which stripped away rights of Indigenous peoples.

Today FNMI people across Canada are still battling systemic racism in many aspects of their life.

Here of some statistics on Indigenous brutality:

• Despite making up just 5% of Canada's population, 30% of prisoners in Canada are Indigenous
• Indigenous Canadians are 10x more likely to be shot and killed by police than non-Indigenous Canadians
• The RCMP killed 25 Indigenous people between 2017 and 2020

This issue is not easy to solve as it is one that it deeply rooted in our society.

One potential solution lies in the MMIWG Calls for Justice. Call for Justice 5.7 reads:

"We call upon federal and provincial governments to establish robust and well-funded Indigenous civilian police oversight bodies (or branches within established reputable civilian oversight bodies within a jurisdiction) in all jurisdictions, which must include representation of Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people, inclusive of diverse Indigenous cultural backgrounds, with the power to:

i Observe and oversee investigations in relation to police negligence or misconduct,
including but not limited to rape and other sexual offences.

ii Observe and oversee investigations of cases involving Indigenous Peoples.

iii Publicly report on police progress in addressing findings and recommendations at least annually."

While not a miracle cure to the police brutality, this would act as a good first step to help the issue.

We as Canadians have to power to pressure our government officials to bring justice to the lives of many Indigenous people. Please sign this petition to show your support for Indigenous Canadians