Indigenous Affairs minister will meet local families and officials
The nation’s promised inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women is taking much-awaited baby steps toward becoming a reality.
The nation’s promised inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women is taking much-awaited baby steps toward becoming a reality.
Indigenous and Northern Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett will make her way to Whitehorse next Monday to have private discussions with families and loved ones of victims as well as territorial representatives.
Many indigenous families and organizations have called for the federal government to take action on the inquiry. The newly elected Liberals have committed to spend $40 million over two years to get started.
But before the inquiry can be called to action, the structure of it is first on the agenda.
The federal government states it will only be designed after hearing the ideas and perspectives of all the people affected.
“To make sure these voices are heard, a national engagement process will take place over the coming months,” the government’s website for the inquiry states.
After the “engagement process” concludes, the government is to report back on what has been heard from all participants.
“The views and ideas expressed by all participants will allow the government to develop the inquiry, including the mandate, the terms of reference, the format of the inquiry and the timeline,” the website states.
An overview from the first meeting in Ottawa on Dec. 11 has already been posted online – one of the main takeaways being the participants’ desire to be directly involved in the design of the inquiry.
One suggestion was to implement a panel comprising of a strong indigenous female lead, representatives from family members and loved ones, elders, and skilled indigenous experts.
Prior discussions were led by Bennett, Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould and Status of Women Minister Patty Hadju.
Wilson-Raybould and Hadju will not be attending Monday’s meeting in Whitehorse.
In 2014, the RCMP identified a total of 1,181 missing and murdered indigenous women and girls.
Comments (4)
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wolverine on Jan 5, 2016 at 10:08 pm
Instead of calling for yet another inquiry to restate the obvious, the aboriginal leaders should be asking themselves why so many of their kids drop out of school, do drugs and engage in risky criminal behavior, and eventually leave their community and 'go missing'.
So when will the Chiefs take action to stop the violence and abuse in their communities, by their own people, that drives their children into risky behavior, and often early death? While they're at it perhaps they could also address the huge income disparity among the band members in their communities. Why do some families live like kings and others live like serfs?
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jc on Jan 5, 2016 at 11:56 am
Another 40 mil to find out what most everybody else already knows. That's if the whole truth comes out. Forgive me for being a pessimist.
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Just Say'in on Jan 4, 2016 at 8:45 pm
As the other "Just Sayin'"said, I agree 100%. The Stats do not even justify this, for starters there are approximately three times as many missing or murdered aboriginal men then women. Also there are way more missing and murdered Caucasians, with men again being the highest by far. What we should look at are the disfunctions that are leading to this in the communities where this occurs. These communities need to do some sole searching and address the problems within.
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Just Sayin' on Jan 4, 2016 at 4:38 pm
It's 2016, how about we consider all people who are missing, important?
Let's continue forth. Instead of resolving the issue, let's examine it again! Oh, the initial inquiry did this wrong and this wrong, blah blah. Let's see some TANGIBLE results and ACCOUNTABILITY.
Sorry all other missing children, women and men who are not of First Nation ancestry, you don't count.