June 27, 2025
Delivered by email: ministrerca-ministercir [at] rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca (ministrerca-ministercir[at]rcaanc-cirnac[dot]gc[dot]ca)

The Honourable Rebecca Alty, PC, MP 
Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations House of Commons
Ottawa ON K1A 0A6 

Dear Minister Alty:

On behalf of the members of the Canadian Council of Parliamentary Ombudsman (CCPO), I extend my sincere congratulations to you on your appointment as Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations. Your portfolio is profoundly important to all Canadians as we walk the path of reconciliation together. Please know that our organization is happy to provide whatever support and assistance you may need.

In particular, we are ready and willing to help facilitate the implementation of recommendations made in the Call for Justice 1.7 Final Report by former Ministerial Special Representative, Jennifer Moore Rattray, regarding the creation of national and regional Indigenous and human rights ombuds, per the Call for Justice 1.7 of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

The report, which was released on May 30, 2024, was the culmination of extensive consultations with more than 600 individuals representing over 125 governments and organizations, including many of our members. We welcomed her report and believe she has meticulously and accurately incorporated the information and assistance we provided for establishing a new Indigenous-specific human rights institution that is practical, principled, and responsive to both the Call for Justice and to the concerns of Indigenous people in the federal context. It is a thorough and thoughtful roadmap, which includes a suggested implementation timeline that envisioned the selection of four National Ombudspersons by December 31, 2024 and all recommended national and regional Indigenous ombuds offices staffed and operational by December 31, 2025.

In a June 2024 letter to your predecessor, Minister Gary Anandasangaree, we urged swift action on the report. We recognize enormous potential in the approach outlined in the Ministerial Special Representative’s report, which recommends ongoing collaboration between the Indigenous and Human Rights Ombudsperson and provincial/territorial ombuds. Because there is currently no independent oversight body to deal with Indigenous people’s issues as they pertain to most federal services, those complaints are often brought to provincial and territorial ombuds offices, where we have no jurisdiction or authority over federal matters and, consequently, limited avenues to help Indigenous people resolve those types of issues.

The absence of a federal ombuds entity prevents collaboration between our offices and a federal counterpart to assist Indigenous people. Ms. Rattray directly addresses this issue by contemplating agreements between the National Indigenous Ombudsperson and provincial/territorial ombudspersons. This would simplify complaint pathways for Indigenous people and would avoid any unnecessary retelling of traumatic experiences as they search for the complaint pathway that applies to the public institutions with which they have a concern.

The Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People National Action Plan (the “National Action Plan”) advocated that “All governments should take concrete actions towards establishing this [Indigenous and Human Rights Ombudsperson] position before June 3, 2022.” A year later, when the progress report on the National Action Plan was released, it noted that “[t]he creation of an independent national Indigenous oversight body or Independent National Indigenous Human Rights Ombudsperson and/or Tribunal was identified as an important immediate next step in the National Action Plan,” but “[a]t this point in time, no action has been taken on the creation of an independent national Indigenous oversight body.” We are unaware whether any further progress has been made since that time.

We are eager to see this important initiative in place and offer our assistance to ensure the timely establishment of a National Indigenous and Human Rights Ombudsperson. It has been six years since the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls released its Calls for Justice. We commend the work of Jennifer Moore Rattray and encourage you to heed the voices and perspectives she acknowledged in preparing her report. Our organization’s collective expertise in independent oversight and our shared commitment to reconciliation are available to you.

Yours truly,
Jill Perron
President, Canadian Council of Parliamentary Ombudsman and
Manitoba Ombudsman