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MP urges RCMP to investigate allegations of forced, coerced sterilizations

NDP MP Don Davies, blood plasma clinics, Ottawa,
NDP MP Don Davies speaks during a news conference in Ottawa, on Tuesday, November 15, 2016. File photo by The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld

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NDP health critic Don Davies is calling for the RCMP to immediately launch an investigation into all allegations of forced and coerced sterilizations in Canada.

In a letter to RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki, Davies urges action on the issue given "multiple, credible allegations of crimes" have been made.

Davies says Indigenous women in Saskatchewan came forward and reported they were forced or coerced into tubal ligations against their will and in "clear circumstances of duress."

He also points to a class-action lawsuit representing 60 women filed in Saskatchewan against the province, the federal government, regional health authorities and individual doctors over the alleged incidents.

Davies says subsequent media coverage has led more women from across Canada to disclose that they too have undergone forced or coerced sterilization in recent years.

In December, the United Nations Committee Against Torture urged Canada to take action to address allegations of coerced and forced sterilizations and gave it one year to report back with progress.

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