Liberal government says extensive consultations will precede national inquiry into MMIW

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The new Liberal government says it will
soon launch a national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women but
it wants to get it right first.

This is why the federal government will be
conducting extensive consultations with various stakeholders in coming months –
including victims of violence and their families, Aboriginal leaders and
community groups – before officially launching the inquiry sometime in 2016.

This is being called phase one while the
actual inquiry will constitute phase two.

The national consultations will be led by
Indigenous and Northern Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett, Justice Minister Jody
Wilson-Raybould and Status of Women Minister Patty Hajdu.

The government has also designed a
discussion guide which will soon be available online to help focus meetings on
the inquiry design process.

Questions in the discussion guide include
who should conduct the inquiry, its length, who should be heard and what issues
considered.

The public and other stakeholders will be
encouraged to submit their own answers to these questions once the discussion
guide is available online.

“Missing and murdered Indigenous women and
girls represent a heartbreaking national tragedy that must be addressed
immediately,” Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Carolyn Bennett says
in a released statement. “Inaction ends today. This is why we need to hear from
all Canadians – especially survivors, families and loved ones, Indigenous
organizations, and provinces and territories – to help us identify the best
process for this inquiry.”

Darlene Okemaysim-Sicotte is the co-chair
of Iskwewuk E-wichiwitochik (Women Walking Together), a support network for
families of missing and murdered Indigenous women based out of Saskatoon.

She says extensive consultations prior to
officially launching a national inquiry are the right way to go.

“I think it’s necessary to have that design
process, to have that inclusive process,” Okemaysim-Sicotte says. “That’s why
they are meeting with families right away Friday and it won’t be the only place
or time they will be meeting with families. In the next while they will be
engaging with national advocacy groups and grassroots people to work on that
design process because that’s going to be the necessary part of the groundwork
leading up to the time they actually start the inquiry in the spring. So I
think it’s very necessary to start on those grounds. It will start building
their database and they will start seeing a repeat of the same wishes. Some of
them will be very dynamic from each other and there’s other things they don’t
want to miss. So I think it’s important the design process has a lot of
feedback and input by as many people as possible.”

The Liberal government has committed two
years and $40 million to a national inquiry on missing and murdered Indigenous
women.

The government announcement was made in
Ottawa on December 8.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minster Justin
Trudeau met with Assembly of First Nations leaders in nearby Gatineau, Quebec.

A 2014 RCMP report estimates 1,181
Indigenous women were either killed or went missing between 1980 and 2012.

The previous Conservative government repeatedly
refused to call an inquiry into the issue.