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 Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2015. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police reported previous year that 1,181 First Nation, Métis and Inuit women and girls were killed or went missing between 1980 and 2012.
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The Liberal government is launching the first phase of a national inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women, the justice minister said Tuesday.
In B.C., families of victims walked away from Commissioner Wally Oppal’s inquiry into missing and murdered women.
Canadian aboriginal peoples under the Harper administration launched multiple campaigns to, among other things, stave the widespread environmental degradation that they said had infringed on their constitutionally guaranteed right to autonomy over tribal lands.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says those touched by the tragedy have waited long enough.
Assembly of First Nations National Chief Perry Bellegarde also addressed the assembly this morning. That report came days after a United Nations watchdog called for an inquiry into Canada’s missing and murdered indigenous women.
Ontario Regional Chief Isadore Day said, “The way forward is through the involvement of First Nations peoples of Canada in the inquiry”.
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. “We are the only province in the country that has done a full inquiry into the issue so we have a lot of experience to offer”.
Hajdu said: “We recognize that a number of factors, like racism, marginalization, sexism, and poverty have contributed to the ongoing tragedy of murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls”.
“This is happening because of our history, with residential schools, colonization”, said Williams.
It will take the next two months to consult with victims’ families on how the inquiry should be designed, and what it needs to accomplish.
After ministers receive public input on the process with priority given to families of missing and murdered indigenous women, the inquiry will be launched at a national level. On Tuesday, Premier Rachel Notley said her government welcomes Trudeau’s commitment to a renewed relationship between Canada and indigenous peoples.
Be Civil – It’s OK to have a difference in opinion but there’s no need to be a jerk.
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“We will get this right for the spirits and the memory of those we have lost”, she said, as she wrapped up her remarks.
