MMIW hearings to visit city in November
Canada’s inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women will hold hearings in Edmonton in November.
Chief commissioner Marion Buller announced Thursday the inquiry will hear from families who have lost loved ones to violence in Edmonton during the week of Nov. 6 — one of nine hearings to be held across Canada between September and December.
“Staff of the national inquiry, the commissioners and myself are well-prepared and ready and eager and excited to get this work done — this very important work done, in a good way,” Buller said in Vancouver.
The announcement comes after a number of high-profile staff departures have shaken confidence in the inquiry. The most recent to resign, Montreal lawyer Michéle Moreau, announced late last month she was stepping down as executive director, citing personal reasons — the fourth inquiry staffer to resign in a month.
The community meetings are the first to be scheduled after initial hearings in Whitehorse in May.
The inquiry, a key election campaign promise of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal party, aims to “examine and report on the systemic causes of all forms of violence against Indigenous women and girls in Canada by looking at patterns and underlying factors.”
A 2014 RCMP report found 1,181 Indigenous women went missing or were murdered in Canada between 1980 and 2012. Grassroots community organizations believe those numbers could be higher.
Paul Tuccaro, whose younger sister Amber Tuccaro was found slain after she went missing near Edmonton in 2010, plans to attend the hearings.
But he’s frustrated by parts of the process so far, in particular the cancellation of an advisory meeting for families earlier this year.
Amber Tuccaro’s body was discovered in a heavily treed area of Leduc County almost two years after she vanished.
Police have found the remains of five women in the area since 2003. The case remains unsolved. Her brother said he hopes the commissioners focus on holding police accountable for their investigations.
“I’m going to be frank and say, ‘Really, what are we doing here?’ ” he said.
“What’s going to become of this after we go and share our story? I’m sure a lot of people want to know the same thing.”
Muriel Stanley Venne, president and founder of Edmonton’s Institute for the Advancement of Aboriginal Women, said the inquiry needs to support families.
“I just hope they can get their organization together,” she said Thursday. “I’m hoping this is kind of a breakthrough and we can get on with doing the work of the commission, which is enormous.”
Inquiry staff are expected to be in Edmonton during the week of Sept. 5 for pre-meetings with families.