Families split on need for reset of MMIWG inquiry

SASKATOON A Saskatoon woman whose aunt is a missing Indigenous woman supports the head of the National Inquiry into Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls, saying she would not agree to a new commission using her family’s story.

Myrna LaPlante said her family has developed trust in the current commission members and has no idea who would take over or what their terms of reference might be if the government were to “reset” with a new lead commissioner.

After months of supporting the beleaguered commission, the Assembly of First Nations last week sided with critics of chief commissioner Marion Buller and called for her to resign.

“If it’s reset, what do I do with my family story? I would have to say, ‘I’m sorry, I need that story back.’ If there’s a reset, that’s what I would say,” said LaPlante, whose elderly aunt, Emily Osmond, went missing in 2006.

“I would request our story be removed from the public record.”

LaPlante said families were not consulted before the 48 to 15 vote at a special meeting of the AFN in Ottawa on Dec. 7. There are more than 500 chiefs in Canada, she noted.

LaPlante does agree with the AFN call to the have the National Inquiry’s deadline extended by two years beyond its November 2018 end date. The inquiry’s twoyear mandate wasn’t enough time for the commission to create a structure to accomplish the “huge” nationwide task and to have adequate, well-trained staff ready to do the job, La Plante said.

The inquiry needs to embrace community contributions and partnerships, she said. LaPlante is

a member of Iskwewuk E-wichiwitochik, a Saskatoon support group for victims’ families.

Some Saskatchewan families, however, support the call for Buller’s resignation.

Lillian Ewenin of Kawacatoose First Nation, said she urged the AFN at its gathering in Regina last summer to support similar resolution, but the assembly defeated the motion at that time.

The November hearings in Saskatoon confirmed Ewenin’s misgivings about the commission, she said in an interview.

A late change in the date of the Saskatoon hearings, lack of communication from the inquiry and uncertainty around travel plans and who would get to make public statements felt disrespectful to some families, she said.

“They are missing a lot of stories. Families didn’t feel safe (or) supported,” Ewenin said.

Her cousin, Eleanor “Laney” Ewenin, froze to death in 1982 near Calgary under circumstances that were never adequately explained.

Laney’s sister, Danielle Ewenin, said in a recent interview, the commission ignored the holistic approach needed to address the trauma that reverberates throughout communities when their people die through violence.

Chief Bobby Cameron was not immediately available to say how he voted; he is the Saskatchewan region representative to the AFN.