Quebec Native Women is no longer a member of the Native Women’s Association of Canada

Kahnawake, July 8, 2021 – A resolution was adopted last May at the Quebec Native Women’s Council (hereafter QNW) meeting. At this meeting, the latter took the decision to withdraw from the Native Women’s Association of Canada (hereafter NWAC).

Since 2020, QNW was unknowingly excluded from any participation on the NWAC Board of Directors. This has significantly contributed to the deterioration of the already fragile relationship between the two organizations. We believe that QNW should have been informed of this exclusion by receiving official documents from NWAC stating this news. We believe that this lack of communication and transparency jeopardized the credibility of this association, which led to QNW’s departure.

In addition, several women have claimed to have been mistreated by NWAC. This wave of denunciations was unfortunately not a surprise for us. Knowing that one of our missions is to oppose and denounce all forms of violence, it was essential for QNW to dissociate itself from this association. QNW does not want to be an accomplice to the maliciousness of this association.

Our organization has raised these serious problems with NWAC on several occasions, but they have never taken them into account, let alone resolved them. Our Council of Women Elected Officials has therefore officially decided to withdraw from this association.

“We had to act in the best interests of our members. The adoption of this resolution was necessary for the well-being of all Indigenous women and girls. QNW will continue to carry out its mission independently of NWAC, which is to promote the rights and interests of Indigenous women in Quebec on both a collective and individual level. In this way, we will carry the voice of our organization in a healthy climate,” says Viviane Michel, President of QNW.

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Source:
Doreen Petiquay Barthold
Communication Officer
Quebec Native Women
Business Complex, River Road

C.P. 1989, Kahnawake (Québec) J0L 1B0
514-757-1508 | communication@faq-qnw.org

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