While the investigation isn’t flawless, the fact remains that this is the first time that these missing and murdered Indigenous women have been this much of a national priority in Canada.
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The federal government announced that the two-year, $53.8-million inquiry will examine the root causes behind why more than 1,100 indigenous women ended up either missing or murdered in Canada and how to end the “unacceptable rates” of violence against indigenous women and girls.
In a ceremony at the Canadian Museum of History which included indigenous traditions, Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett, Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould and Status of Women Minister Patty Hajdu handed over a symbolic birchbark basket to the five commissioners who will study the issue.
The terms of reference for the inquiry give the commissioners broad powers to compel witnesses and summon evidence, including in provincial and territorial jurisdictions such as policing. This national inquiry needs to be done right.
She’s also watched as a campaign that started with posters tacked to lamp posts grew into a national movement that culminated on Wednesday with the federal government finally revealing the details of its long-awaited inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women.
No Atlantic Canada representation among appointed commissionersHart Perley from Tobique First Nation in N.B. travelled to Halifax to take part in the January 20 meeting about an inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women.
“I think attitudes need to change and I think that we need to look at the real issue and not turn a blind eye to our women that are living on the streets also that are in high-risk situations”, said Audrey Marshall, a senior consultant with the Nova Scotia Native Women’s Association.
“We need … a process to hold police accountable for their failures to protect indigenous women and girls from male violence”. “These issues are all interrelated and our expectation is that one reason we are having the inquiry [is] to address how these issues relate to violence against Indigenous women and girls”.
Reconciliation won’t happen if this commission refuses to acknowledge that the police are right when they say that most First Nations female homicide victims – like most murdered women – are killed by men they know.
In 2014, the RCMP created a database of murdered and missing Indigenous women which contained the cases of over a thousand Indigenous women who had been murdered from 1980 to 2012 and 169 missing Indigenous women dating back to 1952. “We must prevent these tragedies from continuing and provide the families with some measure of peace”, she said.
The terms of reference and the names of the five commissioners who will lead the inquiry were released.
There is no mention of the role of the provinces and territories in particular in the areas of police services and the child welfare system. “Many of the families feel the cases of their particular loved ones were mishandled, that there was police misconduct or they were closed prematurely, and that they didn’t see justice”. However, the cost pales in comparison to the toll taken on victims and their families, and the worldwide black eye Canada has suffered over the issue, and the price is irrelevant if it can move the country toward solving a problem that so long has plagued it.
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“This is not the time to be vague”, she said.
