MISSING WOMEN
The tragedy of close to 600 cases of missing or murdered aboriginal women must be addressed by all Canadians, Doug Cuthand says.
The sad plight of missing and murdered aboriginal women has cast a heavy pall across Indian country for the past several decades.
Women go missing or return to their communities in coffins every year. It’s a tragedy of our times. The Native Women’s Association of Canada has documented close to 600 cases of missing and murdered aboriginal women. If this number is compared to the general Canadian population, it would be equivalent to 21,000 missing and murdered women and would be considered a national crisis.
The lives of aboriginal women are held cheap in Canada. Their lives are invisible and unknown. As far as the public is concerned, these women either live in remote northern communities or on the streets in some inner city — situations foreign to most Canadians.
While aboriginal women are invisible for most Canadians, there are weak and bigoted men who will prey on them. Losers such as Willie Pickton in British Columbia and John Crawford in Saskatoon saw aboriginal women as easy prey.
Canada has an informal class system that grades people according to race and wealth. Unfortunately, poor aboriginal women are among those at the bottom. No matter what rung of the social ladder the predators occupied, they must have felt that aboriginal women were beneath them.
It’s not as if this tragic situation has gone unnoticed. Repeated requests have been made of the federal government to call an inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women. Ottawa’s response has been that police and the law will deal with it.
The Assembly of First Nations has called for an inquiry. This has been reinforced by calls from the premiers, opposition parties, and organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. James Anaya, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Aboriginal Peoples, also has called for an inquiry.
However, the Harper government has remained steadfast in its opposition to an inquiry, citing various federal programs and its tough on crime policies as the solution. It even cited some families of missing women who don’t want an inquiry. What Ottawa fails to point out is that these families don’t want an inquiry because they don’t trust the government to keep it fair and open.
I feel that an open and honest inquiry is what this issue requires. The deaths of missing and murdered aboriginal women is an issue for Canadian society to ponder. Why do so many poor aboriginal women go missing? Is it the racism that is endemic to our nation? Is it the poverty and lack of opportunity that many aboriginal women face? What role does the intergenerational impact of traumas such as the boarding school experience play?
What role do aboriginal men play in this tragedy? We can’t just make this a problem created by white men. Many aboriginal women have been victims of spousal violence or murder, and exploited by aboriginal gang members.
What role does racism play? Why do men think they can torture and kill aboriginal women with impunity?
What about government policies over the generations? Chronic underfunding for social programs on reserves has led to an exodus from the reserves to cities, where crime, poverty, substance abuse and racism are the life experience of many.
The Department of Aboriginal Affairs has a long history of underfunding and neglecting reserve communities in the hope that the people will move to the seemingly greener pastures off-reserve. This policy has worked, but at what cost?
Last Friday, the Conservative government tabled the long awaited report from MPs on the special committee on violence against indigenous women. The report’s recommendations fell short of calling for an inquiry. Instead, it contained 16 recommendations that addressed violence against aboriginal women. Both the Liberal and NDP members of the committee filed minority reports that called for an inquiry.
The federal government is missing the point: This is not a problem created by a small group of violent deviants. It is a product of a failed system. Instead of more tough on crime legislation, the emphasis must be placed on prevention.
We can’t be treated as a separate problem. The issue of murdered and missing aboriginal women must be addressed by all Canadians. We have had boards of inquiry and royal commissions in the past that treated our people as a separate problem for Canada. That type of thinking has no place anymore.
Racism and dysfunction are products of the whole society. Introspection and self-criticism are signs of a healthy society, not a sign of weakness. An inquiry into murdered and missing aboriginal women is an opportunity to bring the country together and be a valuable agent for change.