A lot of advocacy work starts with saying no—no to colonial policies, people, and power. As part of Sexual and Reproductive Health Awareness Week (SRH Week), we celebrate the solidarity and resistance to colonial practices and the legislation to ban conversion therapy in Canada that took effect on January 7, 2022. This is a small step in the greater vision of liberating Indigenous sexual and gender identities and building a world for all Indigiqueer people to live freely and safely within their communities.

Visit Native Youth Sexual Health Network for more information on their work towards sexual and reproductive justice.

For access to information and resources on sexual health visit Options for Sexual Health and Action Canada.

---

Thursday, February 17, 2022– Advocacy is Transformation 

Advocacy is critical to systems change. This Sexual and Reproductive Health Awareness Week (SRH Week), take the time to learn about the National Inquiry’s Final Report on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people. The final report reveals systemic Indigenous rights violations and abuses and offers 231 Calls for Justice. The Calls for Justice serve as a guide for colonial governments, institutions, social services and other industries to work toward system transformation that will protect and uphold Indigenous rights.

Visit the National Inquiry into MMIWG2S+ report and the  231 Calls for Justice for more information.

---

Saturday, February 19, 2022 – Advocacy in Action: Healthcare Providers are Essential

Throughout history, advocacy has been essential to improving access to sexual and reproductive healthcare and ensuring Indigenous rights are upheld. Indigenous sexual and reproductive justice depends on education about the history and current context of colonialism on Indigenous peoples within the health and wellness sector and training to dismantle systemic racism to improve access to safe, equitable and culturally relevant healthcare for Indigenous peoples. We encourage healthcare and wellness industry workers to familiarize themselves with the In Plain Sight report which addresses discrimination and racism healthcare.

Visit the In Plain Sight report for information and recommendations for change within the healthcare system.

Read and listen to the full article here

In this episode of our Métis Speaker Series, we chat about the environment and sustainability with Vanessa Prescott. Vanessa shares her story, about where her family comes from and what their relationship was with the land. She shares what she finds most special about Métis land-based practices and how relationships with land have changed over time for Métis people. The series covers how we can begin to repair and build better relationships with First Nation land stewards in BC.

Read and listen here

Métis Nation British Columbia (MNBC) aims to reduce Métis core housing need in British Columbia (BC) by 50% over five years. To measure progress towards this goal, MNBC undertook a baseline housing needs assessment to benchmark the proportion of Métis in BC living in core housing needs in 2021.

Our findings indicate that Métis households in BC live in core housing needs at higher rates (17%) than the overall BC population (15%). More specifically, Métis households live in core housing need at the highest rates in Region 2 (Lower Mainland: 25%), Region 1 (Vancouver Island & Powell River: 17%), and Region 3 (Thompson & Okanagan: 15%).

This report presents the results of this baseline housing needs assessment.

Read the full article here