Reopen missing Indigenous women, girls cases: chief
The federal government should act on a recommendation of the national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls and create a national police task force to reopen cases, says the chief of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN).
“That’s important because we need further investigation. The families need to have a comfort level that investigation is happening and people aren’t giving up,” Chief Bobby Cameron said. “All those people who went missing or who were murdered are important.”
The commissioners overseeing the national MMIWG inquiry released a 111-page report this week that detailed their progress to date and made some recommendations.
Among those was for the federal government to work with provinces and territories to create a national police task force that could reopen, assess or review MMIWG cases.
The creation of such a body is “really important,” said Myrna LaPlante, co-chair of the Saskatoon Women Walking Together group that supports families of MMIWG.
“That’s absolutely needed by families that have had no contact (with police) for an extended period of time — sometimes more than 10, 20 years,” she said.
Laplante’s aunt, Emily Osmond, went missing from her home north of the Kawacatoose First Nation in 2007. Her missing person’s case remains open. When she received a call about the case from an RCMP officer this spring, after the national inquiry held its first public hearing, it was the first communication she’d had with law enforcement about the case in seven years.
LaPlante said if there was a national police task force, like the one recommended by the MM IWG inquiry, she would ask them to reopen her aunt’s case.
Another recommendation in the report is that the federal government provide more money to Health Canada’s residential schools resolution health support program so it can meet the increased demand for its services that has arisen as families testify before the MMIWG commissioners.
LaPlante said this is a vital recommendation and that her family plans to access the program when they share their story at the MMIWG’s public hearings in Saskatoon later this month.
“It’s absolutely critical to have health support available and especially after-care. After-care is a big thing,” she said.
“You’ve presented your story, you’ve opened up the wounds that maybe people haven’t talked about much in the last year, and they’re presenting all that information to the commissionaires. And then there’s all the emotional, mental stress and anxiety, all those kinds of health effects following.”
Since the national inquiry into MMIWG started more than a year ago, it has faced criticism from families and grassroots organizations because of poor communication and slow progress. Key staff have also resigned.
In its report, the inquiry blamed the federal government for delays, saying red tape has prevented staff from getting their hands on the basic materials they need to do their jobs in a timely way.
Cameron said the difficulties the inquiry is having with government bureaucracy should not overshadow the important work it’s doing.
“Any project or initiative of this magnitude, there’s always going to be some obstacles or some challenges along the way,” he said.
“That being said, we still maintain the course where our people, our families and all those that have been affected by a lost loved one, a missing or murdered loved one, we still support them in terms of healing. Their voices need to be heard. The recommendations coming from the families and their input is absolutely a priority.”