It took Canadian MP Leah Gazan roughly two seconds to rattle off 16 characters that would dominate social media for the next 48 hours. Speaking at a press conference in Ottawa on 8 April, the New Democratic Party member for Winnipeg Centre condemned Budget 2026 for slashing $7 billion (£5.3 billion) from Indigenous Services Canada and Crown-Indigenous Relations. But it was not the funding figures that went viral.
'They provided $0 to deal with the ongoing genocide of MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+,' Gazan said, delivering the acronym without hesitation or notes. Footage of the moment, shared by Juno News, was viewed millions of times within hours.
