Forced and coerced sterilization should be a criminal offence and those subjected to it deserve an apology and compensation, a Senate committee said in a report Thursday.
The Senate human rights committee has been studying the issue since 2019, and concluded in a final report that forced and coerced sterilizations persist in Canada and both legal and policy responses are needed.
The senators say the 鈥渉orrific practice鈥� disproportionately affects vulnerable and marginalized groups including Indigenous women, Black and racialized women and people with disabilities.
The report defines forced or coerced sterilization as a surgical procedure to prevent conception that is performed without a patient鈥檚 free, prior and informed consent.
鈥淭he repercussions of forced and coerced sterilization are extensive, lasting and devastating,鈥� Sen. Yvonne Boyer told a news conference Thursday.
Boyer said survivors who spoke to the committee delivered 鈥減owerful truths鈥� and that survivors must guide the way forward.
鈥淭he survivors who testified were unequivocal: they believe that racism was the driving force behind their unwanted sterilizations,鈥� Boyer said.
鈥淥n top of the trauma of undergoing the procedure itself, witnesses describe long-term health and psychological effects, including depression, anxiety and loss of trust in the medical system.鈥�
The report noted that Canada has a long history of forced and coerced sterilization through laws and government policies that sought to reduce births in Indigenous and Black communities, as well as people living in poverty or with disabilities.
Boyer said the finding that struck her the most was the deep-rooted impact of sterilization on entire communities and future generations.
鈥淔orced sterilization disrupts and breaks the natural laws that Indigenous Peoples have followed since time immemorial,鈥� she said.
Boyer said more detailed data documenting the prevalence of the practice is forthcoming based on reports from survivors. One estimate suggests as many as one-quarter of the women in Igloolik, Nun. may have been forceably sterilized.
A proposed class-action lawsuit led by lawyer Alisa Lombard is also underway to seek compensation for Saskatchewan and Manitoba women who say they forced or coerced sterilization, some as recently as 2018. More than 100 women have joined that lawsuit thus far.
Other proposed class actions are underway in Alberta and Quebec, as well as an individual action case filed last year in Northwest Territories.
The United Nations Committee Against Torture called on Canada in 2020 to stop the 鈥渆xtensive forced or coerced sterilization鈥� of Indigenous women and girls in the country.
Boyer already introduced a bill in the Senate last month that would make it a criminal offence to sterilize someone against their will or without their consent. She is urging the government to pass the bill quickly.
While existing Criminal Code offences criminalizing assault could be used to prosecute forced sterilizations, Sen. Salma Ataullahjan said the committee has not seen consequences for anyone engaging in the practice.
In the report, Lombard said there is no sign of doctors facing consequences for acts of forced or coerced sterilization which could change if a specific criminal offence is created.
鈥淚f doctors know that they could potentially be subject to criminal sanctions, this could change behaviour quite quickly,鈥� said Lombard.
Sen. Mich猫le Audette added that it would help women or families to know there is legislation specifically designed to protect them.
Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller said in an interview Thursday that the government is 鈥渁bsolutely willing鈥� to talk to the senators and 鈥減erhaps鈥� look at what changes need to be made to the Criminal Code.
He said it would be an oversimplification to say that non-consensual sterilizations already are a crime because 鈥渢he ways in which forced sterilization occurs is much more subtle, much more insidious, and the legacy of systemic racism in the health care system.鈥�
Boyer read a statement from a First Nations woman in southern Alberta who said she was coerced into being sterilized after having four children. She said her mother was also sterilized shortly after having her.
鈥淚鈥檝e been attacked by a system that wished harm on the continuance of my family and ancestral lineage,鈥� she said in the statement.
鈥淚t鈥檚 simply genocide, limiting the number of my immediate family unit, my relatives, members of my tribe, and Indigenous existence.鈥�
NDP Crown-Indigenous relations critic Lori Idlout said forced sterilization is 鈥渟tate violence against Indigenous women鈥� whose voices were ignored for too many years as they reported what happened to them.
She said it is 鈥渋ncomprehensible鈥� that laws in existence already aren鈥檛 being enforced.
鈥淭he RCMP, police forces, and medical associations should be investigating all allegations of forced or coerced legislation and responding appropriately,鈥� said Idlout. 鈥淭he continued ignorance of these complaints must cease immediately.鈥�
Idlout said any restorative justice measures, including compensation, 鈥渕ust be led by the Inuit, First Nations and M茅tis survivors, families, and communities affected by forced and coerced sterilization.鈥�
鈥淛ustice can only come after truth,鈥� said Idlout. 鈥淎ll levels of government have a role in addressing the forced sterilization of women and girls, and recognition of those harms must come from all levels of government.鈥�
鈥� Erika Ibrahim, The Canadian Press
