TORONTO

Ontario will spend $100 million over three years on a new strategy in response to violence against indigenous women, Premier Kathleen Wynne announced Tuesday.

The success of the strategy can be judged by the number of indigenous children in care, educational outcomes and other markers, Wynne said.

Indigenous women are three times more likely to experience violence or be murdered than other women in Ontario, she said.

Although just 2.4% of the population, indigenous children represent 26% of those in care, she said.

“And behind these grim statistics lie violence, behind these grim statistics lie heartbreaking stories of mothers, sisters, daughters, aunts and grandmothers that we've lost,” Wynne said Tuesday. “Behind these grim statistics lie decade after decade of governments across Canada shamefully neglecting the deep wounds inflicted upon indigenous communities.”

Walking Together: Ontario's Long-term Strategy to end Violence Against Indigenous Women, earmarks $80 million on a Family Well-Being Program to help families in violence, $15.5 million to assist victims of violence and human trafficking and $2.3 million for training and tools for Crown Attorneys and police responding to missing persons.

The strategy does not directly address violence against indigenous men and boys, but Wynne said there is funding for the Kizhaay Anishinaabe Niin I Am A Kind Man program.

“The statistics are that it is indigenous women who are most at risk, who are most susceptible,” she said. “I would suggest that we are talking about families, we're talking about communities, but the entry point is the violence that's perpetrated against women.”