Canada’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women: An Argument Against an Inquiry (Bill’s Right On Blog)

I remember the first time I heard about missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada was from the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) who put together research counting over 600 women. Of course the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) rebutted their claims as unfounded and was unable to determine where they got that number from stating they only knew of about 82. It was a wide margin of discrepancy. But when family members go missing, don’t call, don’t check in, don’t show up at family gatherings, can’t be found through the moccasin telegraph, and simply vanish – your family and friends notice.

The recent findings of the RCMP report states that from across all police jurisdictions in Canada a total of 1,017 Indigenous women were victims of homicide and another 164 are considered missing for a total of 1,181 missing and murdered Indigenous women. the report goes on to state that Indigenous women are overrepresented among Canada’s murdered and missing women, most of these homicides were committed by men who knew the victims, and finally stating that the majority of these homicides (close to 90%) were solved.

I must say that I am hesitant to believe that anything will become of this report for when I look at the actions of the Crown for anything positive for Indigenous peoples, past examples include the Royal Commission on Indigenous Peoples (RCAP, 1991), the Pickton Inquiry Report, and of course the Kelowna Accord. The RCAP sits on a shelf and while one could argue that the research has set the course for Indigenous relations in Canada it remains one of the most ignored commission pieces the Crown has ever undertaken. After 5 years, $51.2 million later and 440 recommendations, only the National Indigenous Day on June 21st was ever acted upon.

The Pickton Inquiry Report was another dead end with the most effective recommendation, a regionalized policing agency being unlikely almost immediately due to the RCMP’s newly signed 20 year municipal policing contract. Indeed, a year after the report was published only 3 recommendations had been in place out of 65 in total and in 2014 there were still questions about why many of these proposals were not funded in the BC spring budget.

Based on this past evidence I don’t believe that an inquiry into the missing and murdered Indigenous women will do us any good. An inquiry won’t bring them back, won’t put their spirits at ease, nor will it bring peace to the hearts of the grieving families. The RCMP has now confirmed over 1,000 cases nationwide. Let that sink in for a moment.

One thousand women, gone from the hearts of families, the hearts of mothers, the embrace of children, the love of their partners. 1,000 women missing from what is suppose to be one of the greatest countries on earth and our federal government doesn’t bat an eye. Yet the evidence is clear – one thousand individuals Mothers, Sisters, Aunts, Cousins, and Friends. Gone.

Amnesty International has an e-petition you can find on their website  calling for Prime Minister Stephen Harper to create a national plan to stop the violence against Indigenous women and girls regardless of where they live in Canada. It calls for increased coordination between all levels of governments, addressing discrimination, making sure police across the country have a clear plan of action for the heightened risks faced by Indigenous women and helping women escape from abusive relationships. Amnesty’s past work in Canada includes Stolen Sisters (2004) where it also called for a national plan of action to stop violence against Indigenous women.

What about the voices supporting an inquiry for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous women? The premiers at the 2013 premiers’ summit threw their support behind the idea and were widely heralded by the Assembly of First Nations and the Native Women’s Association of Canada calling it a major moccasin step in the right direction. Unfortunately, even these calls for a national inquiry and were ignored soundly by Stephen Harper.

The United Nations has also called for an inquiry as well with its “Report of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples”, by James Anaya without success and section 89 of the report states, “The federal Government should undertake a comprehensive, nation-wide inquiry into the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, organized in consultation with indigenous peoples.” But again, Stephen Harper refused to acknowledge an inquiry was needed and went so far as to remove its recommendation from a special parliamentary committee that was studying the issue from its report called, “Invisible Women: A Call to Action”.

It’s a red herring to think a national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women will actually do something when you think of what Harper has already done for us. His every move has been to terminate Indigenous title and engage indigenous peoples into the greater economy of Canada by agreements that will sign away our treaty rights. Through the use of the First Nations Financial Transparency Act, Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act, Indian Act and Replacement Act, First Nations Election Act among others we as First Nations Bands are being forced into a corner of assimilation.

The RCMP have focused three areas of concern in their recent report to concentrate their next steps to, 1) Enhancing efforts on unsolved cases, 2) Focusing prevention efforts, 3) increasing public awareness and 4) strengthen the data. These actions will include (among other steps) sharing data relevant to outstanding cases, a National Missing Persons Strategy, providing timely communication to the family. To help with prevention efforts they want to work within communities to identify women at risk and provide support through community programs and work with other government departments to initiate crime prevention programs. But what can we do as concerned individuals who want to help?

With the collection of this data by the RCMP the time for questions is over, we need action. Call on the federal government to task an RCMP arm to investigate these files, demand result based timelines, petition the UN to oversee the process along with our own overseers and participants. Calling for an inquiry only spends more time on the reality that these missing women are at a greater chance of ending up murdered. If the federal government is willing to send aid to Nigeria to help seek out 300 kidnapped girls, it can surely use resources for its own back yard.

Demand more from your government, demand more from your Prime Minister, please pressure your MP to ensure justice comes to our missing and murdered Indigenous women. Turning a blind eye and saying it isn’t my problem is exactly the reason it remains an issue. Justice > oppression.

– Bill Stevenson, Bill’s Right On Blog