Commissioner resigns from inquiry
MMIWG panel plagued by communication issues, high-profile departures
While the national inquiry into murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls continues to lose highlevel staff and appears in disarray, Canada’s minister of Indigenous affairs is urging everyone to not lose hope in the process.
Saskatchewan lawyer Marilyn Poitras issued her resignation in a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday. She is the first commissioner to resign from the inquiry.
In the letter, Poitras said she is “unable to perform my duties as a commissioner with the process designed in its current structure.”
Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett told Ottawa media that she has met with the commission, reviewed their path forward and has faith in what they have planned. “They really do have the vision, the values, the tools and the plan to get this work done,” Bennett said.
She added there is “no question that we all agree that the communication has been an issue,” and they must do a better job telling families about their plan and vision. But she believes they will.
However, not everyone feels the inquiry, in its current form, will be able to do all that is hoped.
Many families and Indigenous leaders have openly questioned the inquiry’s direction and its methods, and have chastised it for not involving more grassroots activists — who have been fighting for an inquiry for years. They feel the inquiry has lost its way and are demanding it begin again.
“This process has lost its focus on those who are impacted by the loss of loved ones and on honouring the lives of Indigenous women,” said Native Women’s Association of Canada interim president Francyne D. Joe in a statement. “The departure of a commissioner, immediately following the resignation of the executive director, is a clear indication that there are unresolved structural issues occurring at the highest levels.”
Poitras’ resignation follows a press conference held last Thursday by the inquiry’s chief commissioner, Marion Buller. Buller gave an update on the probe’s summer progress after several controversies, including high-profile resignations. On June 30, executive director Michèle Moreau quit the inquiry. Moreau cited “personal reasons” for her resignation.
Buller has defended the inquiry and its progress to date, saying she will meet all the milestones, including an interim report in November, even though only a handful of families have spoken at public hearings.
Buller has said staff leaving the inquiry have all done so for “personal reasons” and that some had dream job offers. The inquiry has five commissioners who are mandated to travel the country, hearing the testimonies of families, then making recommendations on how to protect vulnerable Indigenous women and girls.
An RCMP report in 2014 indicated there are 1,181 Indigenous women and girls who have been killed violently or have disappeared. Many believe that number is low.
Poitras also sent another statement to the media, explaining why she, a Métis woman, sister, mother, wife, daughter and friend, feels she must step down.
“I had imagined the chance to put Indigenous process first; to seek out and rely on Indigenous laws and protocols, I wanted to travel to as many places as possible: rural, urban and remote — holding meetings in community halls and kitchen tables. I was committed to speaking with people who are housed and who work in institutions, including prisons, jails and transition houses,” she wrote.
“After serving on this commission for the past 10 months, I realized the vision I hold is shared with very few within the national inquiry,” Poitras said, adding that the status quo colonial model of hearings is the path for most.
Poitras, a constitutional and Indigenous law expert who was appointed assistant professor at the University of Saskatchewan in 2009, strongly feels the terms of reference — decided on by the five commissioners when the inquiry was launched last summer — “have not been met.”
Buller also responded to criticism on the inquiry’s slow pace — only a handful of families have been heard from to date. The inquiry has heard public testimonies in one Canadian city, Whitehorse, and the inquiry sat only from May 30 to June 2.
Families have complained about poor communication and believe they aren’t hearing enough from the commissioners on the progress of the $53.8-million inquiry.
The inquiry has just announced its new fall schedule. Family hearings will begin again Sept. 10 in Thunder Bay, Ont.
In her media statement, Poitras wished everyone well and urged them to keep going.
“It is because of you that our stolen women, girls and LGBTQ2S people are finally being honoured. I remind you that even though I am no longer with the national inquiry, that each of you needs to continue to be the strong women warriors that you are. Continue speaking your truth because the rest of the country needs to know the truth and, more importantly, understand it too,” she wrote.