Message of Support for Anishnabe and Cree women & girls directly affected by sexual violence by the Sûreté du Québec

Sign the petition here.

To the Anishnabe and Cree women and girls directly affected by sexual violence by the Sûreté du Québec,

We believe you. We heard your stories when you first spoke and we were in awe of your strength and bravery for coming forward. We waited with you in our homes across the continent for the verdict to come down, for some measure of safety and security to be restored in your lives, for those men to be fired, disgraced, and removed from their positions of authority for what they had done.

We believe you and we were furious and sickened to our stomachs when your stories carried no weight in the eyes of authorities that chose not to prosecute. We condemn the ruling by a Montreal Police investigatory committee exonerating the Sûreté du Québec in 37 cases of sexual assault and sexual abuse brought against them by Indigenous women. We stand with you against the violence and systematic intimidation by the SQ.

Violence against Indigenous women (cis and trans), girls, and Two Spirit people is at the heart of Canadian settler colonialism. We stand with all Indigenous survivors, and with their families and nations who are imperiled daily by racism, colonial misogyny, and transmisogyny to demand an end to this violence.

To make matters worse, the police are now trying to silence women from coming forward in the future. We condemn the decision of the police to sue Radio-Canada for publicizing your stories: we recognize this as a pathetic tactic of control. We see this as a provocation to be even louder and more persistent in our support for you.

We want you to know that we hear you and that we are with you in ending the racist violence that Indigenous women and girls are subjected to in communities across Canada.

We stand with you against police violence and abuse endured by Indigenous, Black and Latinx communities across this continent, from Val D’Or to Ferguson, from Montreal to Standing Rock.

We stand against the violence of Sûreté du Québec officers, and against the complicity of Montreal police in attempting to silence the survivors of this violence. We stand against a policing and legal regime where Quebec policing agencies ‘investigate’ and systematically exonerate one another for violence perpetrated against you. These same commissions have exonerated SVPM and SQ police when they kill Indigenous people and people of color.

We stand against police investigating police; and against ‘civilian investigation teams’ made up largely by former police. Montreal police (SPVM) in 2001 refused to prosecute the SQ officers who killed Gladys Tolley of Kitigan-Zibi Anishnabeg. We stand with her family as we commit to your struggles for justice.

We are with you.

We believe you.

With love and solidarity,

Aux femmes et filles Anishnabe et Cri directement affectées par les actes de violence sexuelle commis par les membres de la Sûreté du Québec (SQ).

Nous vous croyons. Nous avons entendu vos récits et nous admirons depuis le début la force et le courage que vous avez (et continuez) de démontrer en prenant la parole. De près ou de loin depuis nos maisons, nous attendions avec vous le verdict, dans l’espoir qu’un certain sentiment de sécurité puisse être restauré dans vos vies, dans l’espoir que ces hommes soient renvoyés de leurs fonctions dans la disgrâce, dans l’espoir qu’on leur retire leur position d’autorité en réponse aux actes qu’ils ont commis.

Nous vous croyons et nous sommes furieux-ses et dégoûté-e-s en constatant que vos récits n’ont été que de peu de valeur aux yeux des autorités qui ont décidé de ne pas intenter d’action. Nous condamnons cette décision d’un comité d’enquête de la police de Montréal d’exonérer la Sûreté du Québec pour les 37 accusations d’abus et d’agressions sexuelles portées contre ses policiers par des femmes autochtones. Nous nous tenons debout à vos côtés contre la violence et l’intimidation systémique à la SQ.

La violence contre les femmes (cis et trans) et filles autochones et les personnes Two-Spirit est au cœur du colonialisme de peuplement canadien. Nous sommes solidaires de tous les survivant-e-s autochtones, leurs familles et leurs nations. Nous demandons que cesse la violence raciste, coloniale misogyne et transmisogyne qui les met en péril au quotidien.

Pire encore, la police essaie maintenant de commettre au silence les femmes qui auraient le courage d’aller de l’avant et de porter plainte dans le futur. Nous condamnons la décision de la police d’intenter des poursuites contre Radio-Canada qui a publicisé ces récits. Il s’agit d’une pathétique tentative de contrôle qui est pour nous une provocation à vous soutenir—vous, les survivantes—de manière encore plus bruyant-e-s et persistant-e-s.

Nous souhaitons que vous sachiez que nous vous entendons et que nous sommes à vos côtés afin de mettre un terme à la violence raciste à laquelle sont sujettes les femmes et filles autochtones dans leurs communautés, et ce, à travers le Canada.

Nous sommes solidaires contre la violence et les abus endurés par les communautés autochtones, noires et latines à travers le continent, de Val D’Or à Ferguson, de Montréal à Standing Rock.

Nous sommes solidaires contre la violence des officiers de la Sûreté du Québec, et contre la complicité du Service de Police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) qui cherche à commettre au silence les survivantes de cette violence. Nous sommes solidaires contre un régime légal et policier au sein duquel des institutions policières québécoises « enquêtent » et exonèrent de manière systématique d’autres corps policiers québécois accusés de violence à votre égard. Ces mêmes commissions ont exonéré le SPVM et la SQ accusés du meurtre de personnes autochtones et de personnes de couleur.

Nous nous tenons debout et solidaires contre la police faisant enquête sur la police; contre des soi-disant comités d’enquête civils largement formés d’anciens policiers. Le SPVM a refusé en 2001 de porter des accusations contre les officiers de la SQ qui ont tués Gladys Tolley de la communauté Anishnabeg Kitigan-Zibi. Nous sommes solidaires de sa famille dans notre engagement pour lutter pour la justice.

Nous sommes avec vous.

Nous vous croyons.

Avec amour et solidarité,

Families of Sisters in Spirit

No More Silence

Idle No More

National Indigenous Survivors of Child Welfare Network

Bridget Tolley, Families of Sisters in Spirit, Justice for Gladys Tolley & Justice for Victims of Police Killings

Colleen Hele Cardinal, Families of Sisters in Spirit and National Indigenous Survivors of Child Welfare Network

Duane Morrisseau, National Indigenous Survivors of Child Welfare Network,

Audrey Huntley, No More Silence

Elaine Kicknosway, Families of Sisters In Spirit & National Indigenous Survivors of Child Welfare Network

Nakuset, Executive Director, Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal

Tara Pretends Eagle Weber, Advocate and member, Standing Rock Lakota Tribe.

Audra Simpson, Associate Professor ofAnthropology, Columbia University, New York

Erica Violet Lee, Idle No More, Saskatchewan

Harsha Walia, Writer and Organizer, Unceded Salish Territories

Vicky Boldo, Montreal Urban Aboriginal Community Strategy Network

Judy Rebick, Writer and Organizer, Toronto

Glen Coulthard, Associate Professor, Indigenous Studies, UBC

Brian Noble, Professor of Anthropology, Dalhousie University

Marylynn Poucachiche, Defenders of the Land and Algonquins of Barriere Lake First Nation

Norman Matchewan, Band Councillor, Algonquins of Barriere Lake First Nation

Claudette Dumont-Smith, Kitigan-Zibi Anishnabeg First Nation

Robyn Maynard, Justice for Victims of Police Killings, Montreal Noir and Black-Indigenous Harm Reduction Alliance

Comité pour les droits humains en Amérique latine, Montreal

Sylvia McAdam, Author, Lawyer and Co-Founder of Idle No More, Treaty 6 Saskatchewan

Alex Wilson, Associate Professor and the Academic Director of the Aboriginal Education Research Centre at the University of Saskatchewan

Billy-Ray Belcourt, 2016 Rhodes Scholar, Reading for MA in Women’s Studies, Oxford University

Eriel Deranger, Tar Sands Campaign and Communication Coordinator for Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation

Vicky Boldo, Montreal Urban Aboriginal Community Strategy Network

Hayden King, Assistant Professor, Carleton University

Eden Robinson, Author

Avi Lewis, Journalist, Toronto

Maude Barlow, Council of Canadians

John Greyson, Filmmaker, Toronto

Naomi Klein, Author and activist

Tasha Hubbard, Assistant Professor of English, University of Saskatchewan

Sarah Hunt, Assistant Professor, Geography and Indigenous Studies, University of British Columbia.

Zoe Todd, Assistant Professor Anthropology, Carleton University

Michele Landsberg, Journalist, author, public speaker

Cindy Holmes, Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Postdoctoral Fellow in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University

Dory Nason, Indigenous Studies, UBC

Shiri Pasternak, Assistant Professor, School for the Study of Canada, Trent University

Sarah de Leeuw, Associate Professor, Northern Medical Program, UNBC

Jaskiran Dhillon, New School University, New York

Heidi Kiiwetinepinesiik Stark, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Victoria

Erin-Marie Konsmo, Native Youth Sexual Health Network

Dian Million, Associate Professor of American Indian Studies, University of Washington

Maria Campbell, Cultural Advisor/Elder for Centre for World Indigenous Knowledge and Research, Athabasca University and the College of Law, University of Saskatchewan

Lila Abu-Lughod, Joseph L. Buttenwieser Professor of Social Science, Department of Anthropology and Institute for Research in Women and Gender Studies, Columbia University

Jake Pyne, 2014 Trudeau scholar, PhD Social Work and Gender Studies, McMaster University

Jodi Melamed, associate professor of English and Africana Studies at Marquette University.

Deborah Cowen, Associate Professor, Geography, University of Toronto

Kanishka Goonewardena, Associate Professor, Geography, University of Toronto

Alissa Trotz, Associate Professor in Women and Gender Studies, and Director of the undergraduate Caribbean Studies Program at New College

Reverend Evan Smith, Clergy – The United Church of Canada, Toronto Urban Native Ministry

Craig Proulx, Associate Professor of Anthropology, St. Thomas University, Fredericton

Amber Dawn, Author

Althea Thauberger, Artist

Holly McNarland, Musician, Toronto

Paige West, Claire Tow Professor of Anthropology, Barnard College and Columbia University

Jocelyn Thorpe, Associate Professor, Women and Gender Studies, University of Manitoba

Alyosha Goldstein, Associate Professor of American Studies, University of New Mexico

Mishuana Goeman, Vice Chair and Associate Professor of Gender Studies, University of California at Los Angeles

Jill Doerfler, Department Chair, American Indian Studies, University of Minnesota Duluth

Sandy Miranda, Bassist

peter kulchyski, Professor and Department Chair, Department of Native Studies, University of Manitoba

May Chazan, Assistant Professor and Canada Research Chair, Gender and Women’s Studies, Trent University

Morgan M Page, writer and transfeminist activist

Jean O’Brien, Professor in the Department of History, University of Minnesota

Manu Vimalassery, Assistant Professor of American Studies, Barnard College

Andrew Woolford, Professor of Sociology, University of Manitoba

James Rowe, Assistant Professor, Environmental Studies, University of Victoria

Nora Butler Burke, Concordia University

Tori Cress, Idle No More

Che Gossett, Community Archivist and Student Coordinator, Barnard Center for Research on Women and PhD student, Women’s and Gender Studies at Rutgers University

Estelle Davis, ASSTeQ (Action santé travestiEs et transsexuelLEs du Québec) and Taking What We Need

Vanessa Watts, Queen’s University

Adele Perry, Associate professor of history and Canada Research Chair in Western Canadian Social History

Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, Writer, Activist and Musician.

Melina Laboucan-Massimo, Lubicon Cree Organizer on Climate & Renewable Energy, Alberta Tar Sands

Cris Derksen, Musician, Toronto

Simone Schmidt, Musician, Toronto

Elizabeth Kristjansson, Professor of Psychology, University of Ottawa

Kevin Bruyneel, Professor of Politics, Babson college

Vanessa Dion Fletcher, artist and MFA student, University of Chicago

Renisa Mawani, Associate Professor of Sociology and Founding Chair of the Law and Society Minor Program at the University of British Columbia

Scott Morgensen, Associate Professor of Gender Studies, Queen’s University