Premiers urge PM to call public inquiry over aboriginal women
Almost 600 missing or killed since 1970
NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE, ONT. — Canada’s premiers are joining aboriginal leaders in calling for a public inquiry into missing indigenous women in this country.
“It speaks to the most vulnerable people in our community, and when they go missing, we all are worse off; and we want to make sure that they’re safe, that our streets our safe and young women are safe, regardless of who they are,” said Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger, after a meeting of the provincial and territorial leaders gathered for their annual summer retreat.
More than 580 aboriginal women are believed to have been killed or have gone missing since 1970, according to research by the Native Women’s Association of Canada, which lost some federal funding in 2010.
The president of the association, Michele Audette, noted that women were five times more at risk of dying from violent crimes than their counterparts in the rest of the country, but that many were afraid to speak out.
“When you denounce violence against a person, it (winds up looking) like you’re denouncing the community because we live so close (together),” Audette said at a joint news conference with other aboriginal leaders and Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, who chaired the meeting.
Federal Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bernard Valcourt dismissed calls for a public inquiry during a June interview with Postmedia News.
The way out is not to study anymore. The way out is to take action BERNARD VALCOURT
“I don’t think you have to be a rocket scientist, and I don’t think you need a national inquiry, to find out what the problem is,” Valcourt said at the time. “This is happening because, we know, of the legacy of decades of policies toward First Nations that have resulted (in) what we have today. What is the way out? The way out is not to study anymore. The way out is to take action.”
But Shawn Atleo, the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, said governments in Canada should also consider economic implications of the problem, referring to federal estimates from the Justice Department that domestic violence cost Canadian society about $7 billion in 2009.
Meanwhile Wynne, who continues to chair meetings with her counterparts until Friday, said they would discuss a host of different issues, including a federal jobs skills training program and the need for improving Canada’s national infrastructure so that it can withstand a changing climate.
Premiers are also expected to report on progress in creating a new national energy strategy and are slated to discuss Canada-European free-trade negotiations, Senate reforms, health care and cyberbullying.
But although many of these issues involve the federal government spending or policies, Prime Minister Stephen Harper won’t meet with the premiers collectively at the retreat.
Some political observers say Harper has good reason to avoid first ministers’ meetings: It would simply turn into a gang-up on the federal government with limited political benefit for the Conservatives.
“They do tend to become a bit of a political show,” said Jim Armour, vice-president of public affairs at Summa Strategies and former director of communications to Harper while in opposition.