In the quiet intensity of a Senate committee room, Laura Aguiar, Iskweu Project Coordinator at the Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal, leaned into the microphone. “Having an institution that is survivor-centred and accountable to communities is imperative,” she told senators, “with the understanding that justice looks different for each family and survivor.”

Her words anchored the Standing Senate Committee on Indigenous Peoples’ December 2024 interim report, Respected and Protected. Drawing from 46 witnesses, the 64-page document laid bare how Canada’s existing human rights systems fall short for Indigenous peoples. Systemic gaps rooted in colonialism expose Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people to higher rates of violent victimization, while data on missing and murdered cases remains incomplete and accountability mechanisms stay out of reach.

Witnesses described crushing barriers: years-long delays at the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, no guaranteed legal-cost awards, and reprisals like the federal surveillance Cindy Blackstock faced after filing a 2007 complaint. In Nunavut and on reserves, poverty, inadequate housing and fear of losing benefits silenced complaints. Provincial experiments in Alberta, British Columbia, Nova Scotia and Ontario pointed the way with Indigenous-led commissions, Elder protocols and free legal navigators.

The committee issued eight recommendations. The central one demands legislation to create an Indigenous-led human rights ombudsperson and tribunal grounded in Indigenous laws, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and international standards. The ombudsperson would investigate, compel evidence and resolve complaints. The tribunal would issue binding orders, award remedies and operate in Indigenous languages across every region.

For families still searching, survivors still waiting and communities demanding respect, the path is now in black and white. Parliament holds the next chapter.