COMMUNITY REACTIONS

In response to the June 2022 study in the INAN committee, the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) submitted a brief stating that the Bill must include representation Indigenous women and 2SLGBTQIIA+ people. They recommended amending the Bill to ensure representation in leadership from these groups in a later brief submitted to the Senate committee in 2023. They have also called for a member of the Board of Directors to be nominated by NWAC

In May 2023, the Council of the Crees submitted a brief and spoke before the Senate to provide their thoughts on the Bill In their brief, they call for better representation of Elders in the Council and IndigenousFrancophone represenation (specifically from Quebec). They also call for an annual allocation of funding for the Council.

Several organizations and advocacy groups, including Nishnawbe Aski Nation, the Yellowhead Institute, and the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, have expressed concern that residential school survivors and their descendants do not have a designated place on the board – find their presentations on the House of Commons website and on the Senate website.

In 2022, after Bill C-29 passed from the House of Commons into the Senate, Inuit Tapiirit Kanatami President, Natan Obed, said that the Bill was created without proper co-development with Inuit peoples. Obed withdrew support for the Bill at this time.