Canadian Minister of Indigenous Affairs Carolyn Bennett said a national, independent commission would begin [its inquiry] on September 1.
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LeBourdais says the federal government is finally taking the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women seriously. The Conservative government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper resisted such calls.
The government earmarked $16.17 million-that’s on top of the $53.8 million price tag that comes with the inquiry-for these liaisons, which would gather information on behalf of families.
“The spirits of the missing and murdered indigenous women and girls will be close in our hearts and in our minds as we do our work”, she said.
“The victims deserve justice, their families an opportunity to heal and to be heard”, he has said. The panel plans to release a final report on improving safety conditions for indigenous women and recommending ways to commemorate the dead in 2018.
The issue is especially prevalent in Manitoba, which makes it somewhat curious that all five commissioners leading the inquiry are not from this province.
Lorelei Williams, founder of Butterflies in Spirit, an aboriginal advocacy group that aims to draw attention to the thousands of cases of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls, shared her fears with media at an event in Vancouver.
“If they leave any part – police actions, community, the root causes, or the treatment of indigenous women in society – if they leave any of it out, they won’t have a good report”.
They call it the Highway of Tears, a 450-mile stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway through northern British Columbia where at least 18 young women have disappeared or been murdered since 1969.
“There is no mention of the role of the provinces and territories and yet we know that some of the systemic issues will require provincial discussions, namely police services and the child welfare system”, the Native Women’s Association of Canada wrote in a statement. The commission also includes Brian Eyolfson, a First Nations and human rights lawyer, Marilyn Poitras, a constitutional and Aboriginal law expert, Qajaq Robinson an Igloolik, Nunavut-born lawyer in Ottawa who is fluent in Inuktitut and Michèle Audette a long time Quebec activist and former president of the Native Women’s Association of Canada.
The official number of missing or murdered indigenous women is 1200, but the Minister of the Status of Women, Patricia Hajdu acknowledged it could be over 4,000 over the decades. Many were teenagers. In several cases, the investigations were said to be perfunctory because the women came from impoverished reserves and had nobody to advocate for them. These services will be provided in a respectful and co-ordinated manner during the Inquiry.
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Welcome to Feminism Around the World, a weekly feature here at TMS where we focus on women’s lives and feminist concerns… around the world. Assembly of First Nations National Chief Perry Bellegarde said he is confident chiefs will work in partnership with the commissioners. They are also more likely to be incarcerated or be victims of violent crime and addiction. She says it comes down to two questions: “How did we get here? and Why did Canada allow it to happen for so many years with so little action?”
