Statement From NWAC President Carol McBride on the Importance of Bear Witness Day (Jordan’s Principle)| Native Women's Association of Canada (NWAC)

On May 10, “Bear Witness Day,” The Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) remembers Jordan River Anderson, and the significance of his story.

Jordan River Anderson was a First Nations boy from Norway House Cree Nation in northern Manitoba. Jordan spent his entire short life in hospital while the federal and provincial governments argued over the cost of the home-based care he needed in his community.

After his death, a legal requirement resulting from the Orders of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (CHRT) named Jordan’s Principle, was put in place. Its purpose was to help end inequities that prevent Indigenous children and their families from accessing the products, services, and supports they need, when they need them.

Jordan’s Principle states that any public service ordinarily available to other Canadian children must be made available to Indigenous children without delay or denial.

NWAC honours Jordan’s memory. Indigenous children’s human rights must be prioritized and upheld so that no child is left behind.

Join us to "Bear Witness" on May 10 to ensure Jordan's Principle is fully implemented. After all, there is nothing more important than the safety and well-being of our children.

About The Native Women’s Association of Canada

The Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) is a national Indigenous organization representing political voices of Indigenous women, girls, Two-Spirit, transgender, and gender-diverse people in Canada. NWAC is inclusive of First Nations—on- and off-reserve, status, non-status, and disenfranchised—Inuit, and Métis. An aggregate of Indigenous women’s organizations from across the country, NWAC was founded on a collective goal to enhance, promote, and foster social, economic, cultural, and political well-being of Indigenous women, girls, Two-Spirit, transgender, and gender-diverse people within their respective communities and Canadian societies.

À propos de l'Association des femmes autochtones du Canada

L'Association des femmes autochtones du Canada (AFAC) est une organisation autochtone nationale qui représente la voix politique des femmes, des filles, des transgenres, des bispirituels et des personnes de sexe différent au Canada, y compris les membres des Premières nations vivant dans les réserves et hors réserve, les Indiens inscrits et non inscrits, les personnes privées de leurs droits, les Métis et les Inuits. Regroupant des organisations de femmes autochtones de tout le pays, l'AFAC a été fondée dans le but collectif d'améliorer, de promouvoir et de favoriser le bien-être social, économique, culturel et politique des femmes autochtones au sein de leurs communautés respectives et des sociétés canadiennes.

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Statement From NWAC President Carol McBride on the Importance of Bear Witness Day (Jordan’s Principle)