Rachel Loewen Walker
LightNews LightNews
rlwndp.bsky.social
Rachel Loewen Walker
@rlwndp.bsky.social
32 followers 8 following 33 posts
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Rachel Loewen Walker
surjyxe.bsky.social
Responses of NDP Candidate - @rlwndp.bsky.social - Part Two

#yxe #saskatoon #saskatchewan #treatysix #skpoli #cdnpoli
Saskatoon West NDP Candidate Response ... This is just a preliminary span and my goal would be to work with community partners to make a TRC and MMIWG Calls for Justice action plan for my time in office: • Call to Action 1 & 7: Advocate for increased federal investment in early childhood education and eliminate educational funding gaps for Indigenous children, including support for land-based education and language revitalization. • Call to Action 21: Expand federal support for Indigenous healing centres and culturally rooted wellness programs, especially in urban areas like Saskatoon - we need this desperately here as provincial and conservative governments threaten us with enforced treatment, religious-run shelters, and single-path responses to addictions and trauma. • Calls to Action 39 and 40 (and the MMIWG Calls for Justice sections 4.6, 5.1-5.6, and 17.3): Push for federal review of urban planning and policing practices that displace Indigenous peoples from city cores and public spaces - and put Indigenous women, girls and Two Spirit people in danger, and support federal legislation that restricts the criminalization of poverty and survival. CONTINUED ON NEXT SLIDE... RACHEL LOEWEN WALKER, Saskatoon West NDP Candidate Response Continued: • Call to Action 42: UNDRIP is the framework for reconciliation in Canada and there are already piles of case law that supports UNDRIP and the TRC. We need to follow through on this work, which includes pushing for Indigenous representation in public inquiries and commissions at every level, this builds on nation-to-nation governance, ensuring that Indigenous people are also decision-making authorities. • Calls to Action 71-76: Fight for the appointment of a Special Rapporteur on Residential Schools and Missing Children to work alongside Indigenous communities in ensuring accountability, accessing church and government records, and advancing justice for survivors and families. • And lastly, as someone who has spent many years in the world of research, I am committed to community and Indigenous Data Sovereignty - this isn't explicitly stated within the TRC but would speak somewhat to the Calls to Action #s 19 and 65 which both call for Indigenous-led research and data management. It also aligns with Calls for Justice 2.6 and 2.7. In this vein, I would support legislation and funding that ensures Indigenous nations and organizations have ownership over their data, including funding for Indigenous-led research and the development of Indigenous and community-based research ethics boards - I have spent so many years disappointed with University ethics boards that say they understand community-engaged research, but which continue to perpetuate power imbalances again and again. RACHEL LOEWEN WALKER, NDP
April 21, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Reposted by Rachel Loewen Walker
surjyxe.bsky.social
Responses of NDP Candidate - @rlwndp.bsky.social - Part One

#yxe #saskatoon #saskatchewan #treatysix #skpoli #cdnpoli
Saskatoon West NDP Candidate Response The Indian Act is a colonial tool that continues to undermine Indigenous sovereignty, and I agree that eliminating it must be done with clear leadership from First Nations and through a nation-to-nation approach. As MP of a riding that is made up of more than 18% Indigenous people and supported by strong Indigenous leadership and organizations, I would follow their lead in the push for a full review of existing legislation in partnership with Indigenous nations. I would also fight for funding and legal infrastructure that enables self-determined governance models, including those already underway. In the short term, this means strengthening mechanisms for treaty implementation - as Treaty-based governance offers a strong alternative to the Indian Act, and First Nations in Saskatchewan have advocated for this. I would also advocate for expanding land back programs and supporting First Nations-led policy frameworks-like the AFN's proposals on land claims reform and their more recent publication that outlines their 2025 General Election Priorities and includes a focus on economic reconciliation with First Nations, completing the Calls to Action & Calls for Justice, supporting the wellbeing of First Nations children, families, and future generations, and community safety and security. RACHEL LOEWEN WALKER, NDP Saskatoon West NDP Candidate Response One of my top priorities will be housing justice for Saskatoon West, and that includes advancing Indigenous-led housing initiatives. l intend to draw on knowledge, experience, and research that already exists locally (rather than re-inventing the wheel), drawing out evidence that illustrates that Indigenous Peoples are overrepresented in the housing crisis because of the long history of displacement and underfunding rooted in colonialism, and then building on knowledge that is already being mobilized in organizations like SHIP, CUMFI, the Friendship Centre, QUINT and others. Alongside them, I will push for federal investments in Indigenous housing - and wrap-around supports as needed, depending on the programs - and will advocate that funding is controlled by Indigenous organizations. This priority is accompanied by a process - I intend to hold community-centred conversations around the riding on all range of topics. lintend to take my role as a representative very seriously and this means that I will ground my work and my platform in the needs, experiences, and initiatives of the people of Saskatoon West at all times. RACHEL LOEWEN WALKER, NDP Saskatoon West NDP Candidate Response I am very aware that sovereignty requires not just symbolic recognition but real political and financial power - as long as Canada fails to recognize nation-to-nation negotiations and relationships, we fail to build a country that recognizes Indigenous sovereignty. With this, I support Indigenous-led approaches to justice (including expanding restorative and land-based legal systems), education (such as community-run schools and curriculum development), and healthcare including urban Indigenous health centres). In Parliament, I would support legislation that endorses Indigenous laws and self-governance, and I would work to shift federal funding to long-term, predictable, and non-competitive models for Indigenous governments and organizations (which would be administered by and for Indigenous governments and organizations). RACHEL LOEWEN WALKER, NDP R
April 21, 2025 at 3:59 PM
rlwndp.bsky.social
New Democrats are the resistance—and the future.
www.ndp.ca/.../ndp-slat....
www.ndp.ca
April 11, 2025 at 4:36 AM
rlwndp.bsky.social
Here’s what our team of NDP candidates looks like:
🔸 Women: 176 (51.3%)
🔸 People of colour: 112 (32.6%)
🔸 2SLGBTQIA+ people: 71 (20.6%)
🔸 Youth: 47 (13.7%)
🔸 People living with a disability: 43 (12.5%)
🔸 Indigenous people: 20 (5.8%)
April 11, 2025 at 4:35 AM
rlwndp.bsky.social
But those are empty words as the rights of women and gender-diverse people are under attack, as racism and xenophobia are on the rise. We’re in a time of reckoning—and if history has taught us anything, it’s that the answer is never to exclude. It’s always to include. It’s to build bigger tables.
April 11, 2025 at 4:35 AM