The city could soon become the next voice calling for a national inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women in the country.

On Monday evening, Linda Rapp, the city's director of community and recreation services, brought forward a

recommendation of the Canadian Coalition of Municipalities Against Racism and Discrimination Advisory Committee (CCMARD) that council adopt a resolution calling for the inquiry.

The proposal comes just about three months after a petition of 23,000 signatures was presented to Parliament by aboriginal women demanding a national inquiry.

There have been numerous calls made for such an investigation in recent years, with Yukon MP Ryan Leef urging his federal colleagues last October to agree to one.

A national report was also done by the RCMP, who compiled data from 300 police forces across the country.

As the report to council notes, "only a handful” of statistics in the report are broken down by jurisdiction.

The Yukon Sisters In Spirit is an initiative of the Yukon Aboriginal Women's Council linked with national efforts to look at the issue and include the voices of missing and murdered aboriginal women's families and communities.

The group has indicated the numbers in the report for the Yukon are lower than expected, "but they believe the numbers will grow as investigations continue.”

On the national front, the RCMP report shows 1,181 aboriginal women have gone missing or been murdered in Canada over the past three decades.

"Although aboriginal women make up only 4.3 per cent of the Canadian population, they represent 16 per cent of all female homicide victims,” Rapp stated in the report to council.

"Many of the known cases involve women under the age of 31, and over 1/3 of these cases remain unsolved.”

Rapp then went on to note the issue is one of local concern.

"Whitehorse is a community that has been impacted by this issue,” she said. "The CCMARD members feel that the City of Whitehorse can play a role in supporting the call for a national inquiry. They also feel that the City of Whitehorse's voice can be leveraged.”

The proposed resolution notes that it's been clearly demonstrated aboriginal women in the country are

"disproportionally represented in statistics of murdered and missing persons, and Whitehorse as a community has been directly affected by this tragedy.”

It then goes on to state: "Be it resolved that Whitehorse city council hereby endorses a call for an independent national enquiry into the case of missing and murdered aboriginal women; and

"That the mayor be authorized to request the support of the Government of Yukon in petitioning the federal

government to initiate a national inquiry on this issue; and "That the city's support for an independent national inquiry into the case of missing and murdered aboriginal women be leveraged by advising the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and Association of Yukon Communities of this resolution; and

"That Whitehorse city council supports the efforts of aboriginal women's groups and the RCMP to develop a plan of action to address the root causes of this epidemic of violence against aboriginal women and put a stop to it.”

Though council won't vote on the resolution until next week, it appears the motion has the support of members.

Coun. Jocelyn Curteanu noted that while the city may not have authority "over everything,” municipal government can help influence other levels of government.

This is a situation where it should add its voice to the call for a national inquiry, Curteanu said.

While the city works hard to stay within its "scope”, Mayor Dan Curtis said, this is an important issue, and he is looking forward to passing the resolution.

Coun. Dave Stockdale, meanwhile, said a national inquiry into the issue "seems like a no-brainer.” It also begs the question of why the federal government isn't moving ahead on it, he added.

Rapp noted that she couldn't answer that question for the federal government.

Justice Minister Peter MacKay has argued previously it's important to continue to take "concrete action, not just continue to study the issue.”

Councillors John Streicker and Kirk Cameron were absent from Monday evening's meeting.