It’s expected the inquiry will build on existing knowledge, including B.C.’s Missing Women Commission of Inquiry led by former justice Wally Oppal, and make recommendations on “concrete actions to remove systemic causes of violence and increase the safety of indigenous women and girls”.
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“We need to identify the causes of those disparities and take action now to end them”, Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould, an indigenous woman, said on Wednesday.
Dawn Lavell-Harvard, president of the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC), said that she welcomed the investigation but is concerned that five commissioners were insufficient to represent the diversity of the country.
The inquiry was one of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s election campaign promises.
Canada is grateful to the survivors, families, loved ones and grassroots women’s organizations, front-line, feminist Indigenous organizations, national Indigenous organizations, as well as well as provinces and territories, and experts who provided input during the pre-inquiry process. He said the province will continue to work with the federal government on the national inquiry, but that does not mean the province will stop its own work on the issue.
Although Canada is generally considered to be at the forefront of women’s rights with a gender-balanced cabinet, its indigenous female population has faced decades of violence – and now the government is determined to find out why.
Ending violence against Indigenous women and girls is a priority for our government.
While they will be able to compel witnesses during their work, as stipulated in the Inquiries Act, they will not be able to force governments to comply with their findings.
Beverley Jacobs, a lawyer and advocate for families, said she likes that the terms of reference are broad.
“The national inquiry is an important step in our journey on reconciliation with indigenous peoples in Canada”, said Carolyn Bennett, Canadian Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs, during a press conference on Wednesday.
“[Throughout Inuit Nunangat] there are very few resources in those small communities”, she said.
Canada has announced details about a long-awaited inquiry into the deaths and disappearances of more than 1,000 indigenous Canadian women.
“Until that time, our entire country will live under its shadow”, said Patricia Hadju, Canada’s minister of status of women.
Predictable criticism has risen from some quarters about the inquiry price tag that’s now pegged at almost $54 million, up from the original estimate of $40 million, with another $16 million over four years to establish family liaison units to ensure families remain connected to the inquiry process and to provide them with needed services. “We need to start working as of right now, in collaboration with indigenous chiefs and leaders and every level of government to help indigenous women and improve their living conditions”. His advice to them: “Don’t let the ideal be the enemy of the good”.
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Marilyn Poitras, a professor with a focus on indigenous law, was named as one of the inquiry’s five commissioners during a ceremony at the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Que. But two government ministers involved in planning the investigation say they believe the numbers are actually far higher.
