AMC Responds to Federal Report: First Nations Must Lead Real Justice Reform

November 26, 2025

Treaty One, Manitoba — The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) acknowledges the release of the Rethinking Justice for Survivors of Sexual Violence report from the Office of the Federal Ombudsperson for Victims of Crime.

“We honour the survivors who came forward in this report. Their experiences are painful, but they are not new. They mirror what our Nations have been saying for decades: Canada must stop ignoring First Nations voices and start dismantling the structures that are harming our women, girls, and 2SLGBTQ+ relatives,” Grand Chief Kyra Wilson said.

The report highlights systemic failures that First Nations have been raising for generations: survivors continue to face disbelief, retraumatization, and a justice system that does not protect them.  While the report reaffirms long-standing Calls for Justice from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, it also provides new national-level findings on the harms caused by R. v. Jordan, improper use of therapeutic records, and inconsistent access to victim supports across Canada. These issues continue to impact First Nations women, girls, and Two Spirit people at disproportionate rates.

The AMC maintains that meaningful reform must be led by First Nations, grounded in First Nations laws and legal traditions, and advanced through the Manitoba Tripartite Table on Justice, mandated by Manitoba First Nations leadership and supported by Canada and Manitoba.

“The solutions cannot come from within the same systems that harmed our people,” said AMC Grand Chief Kyra Wilson. “First Nations have the expertise, the laws, and the lived knowledge to restore safety, accountability, and justice for our citizens. The Tripartite Table is where this work must take place, and governments must support a First Nations-led agenda.”

The Tripartite Table provides a structured, distinctions-based forum to advance regional justice transformation, implement the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry, and move forward the MMIWG Calls for Justice. AMC emphasizes that this table is the appropriate venue to address the systemic barriers highlighted in the Ombudsperson’s report, including:

• unsafe and inaccessible reporting environments
• inconsistent access to testimonial aids and independent legal advice
• harmful uses of therapeutic and counselling records
• lack of trauma-informed supports for children and youth
• the disproportionate impacts of R. v. Jordan on sexual assault cases
• the need for First Nations control over justice data and accountability systems

AMC calls on Canada and Manitoba to continue working collaboratively with First Nations at the Tripartite Table to advance coordinated, distinctions-based reforms that prevent violence, support survivors, and uphold First Nations laws and jurisdiction.

“Our leadership has been clear for decades: justice reform must be built with First Nations, not for us,” said Grand Chief Wilson. “The findings in this report reinforce the urgency of the work we are already leading in Manitoba. Now is the time for governments to stand with us and resource First Nations-led systems change.”

AMC remains committed to restoring safety, dignity, and justice for First Nation citizens across Manitoba, grounded in the values, laws, and teachings of First Nations.

For more information, please contact:

Communications Team

Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs

Email:  media@manitobachiefs.com

About the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs

The AMC was formed in 1988 by the Chiefs in Manitoba to advocate on issues that commonly affect First Nations in Manitoba. AMC is an authorized representative of 62 of the 63 First Nations in Manitoba, with a total of more than 151,000 First Nations citizens in the province, accounting for approximately 12 per cent of the provincial population. AMC represents a diversity of Anishinaabe (Ojibwe), Nehetho / Ininew (Cree), Anishininew (Ojibwe-Cree), Denesuline (Dene) and Dakota Oyate (Dakota) people.

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