Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday Canada must forge ahead with a “total renewal” of its relationship with First Nations peoples.
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The federal government has announced the beginning of a national inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal woman and girls.
Former Prime Minister Harper refused to allow for a probe into their deaths, despite renewed calls following the report.
“Furthermore, our elected leadership have made addressing this issue their top priority”.
Aboriginal dancers and elders walk with Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and AFN National Chief Perry Bellegarde as they enter the hall at the Assembly of First Nations Special Chiefs Assembly in Gatineau, Quebec. “We hope this national inquiry will help address troubling and tragic violence against Indigenous women and girls”, said Mark Hancock, national president of CUPE.
“Constitutionally guaranteed rights of First Nations in Canada are not an inconvenience but rather a sacred obligation”, Trudeau said.
“I look forward to working to support this engagement with Indigenous communities across Canada to finally bring an end to violence against Indigenous women”, Elizabeth May said.
The Liberal government will lift a long-standing two per cent cap on federal funding for First Nations communities, he told the Assembly of First Nations gathering – that, despite mounting economic and political pressure on the federal pocketbook.
Speaking before Trudeau took the stage, AFN National Chief Perry Bellegarde did not hide his enthusiasm for the promises made by the new Liberal government, especially following a hard relationship with the Conservatives.
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“Over the next two months, we will hear from more families, other indigenous peoples, national aboriginal organizations and a range of front-line services workers and others”, said Wilson-Raybould in a press conference in Ottawa, CBC reported.
Wilson-Raybould noted the “heartbreaking reality that girls born in our indigenous communities are three times more likely to experience violent crime”.
The government will immediately begin engaging with survivors, family members and loved ones of victims, as well as national, provincial, and territorial Aboriginal representatives to seek their views on the design and scope of the inquiry.
The report found indigenous women and girls accounted for 16 percent of female homicides and 11.3 percent of missing women, despite the fact indigenous women only make up 4.3 percent of the population.
“The people that go missing in our communities or that are murdered, they have an impact on the entire community because we are all family”, she said.
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Trudeau also affirmed his Government’s intention to implement all 94-recommendations from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission into Canada’s residential schools.
