It’s time for a fresh start

The head of the commission looking into the tragic problem of missing and murdered Indigenous women did her best last week to reassure the public that the troubled inquiry is getting back on track.

Unfortunately, Judge Marion Buller’s explanations had the opposite effect. Her complaints about being held back by federal red tape that makes even procuring a computer a lengthy ordeal sounded like so much excuse-making almost 13 months after the inquiry began work.

It has become all too clear by now that the inquiry has lost its way. And as painful as it will be, it’s time the government pulled the plug and replaced the commissioners before the hopes of families and Indigenous communities are completely crushed.

Naming new commissioners to give the inquiry a fresh start may well mean even more delay. But it’s worth recalling that the landmark Truth and Reconciliation Commission went through a similar rocky episode in 2008-09. Its original commissioners resigned and judge (now senator) Murray Sinclair was brought in and eventually produced a ground-breaking report.

The problems plaguing the inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women have been all too public. There’s been a string of high-profile resignations, including commissioner Marilyn Poitras who stepped down in July. The inquiry has held just one public hearing, in Whitehorse last May, and heard from only a few families.

Others have complained bitterly about a lack of communication. And now we learn from Judge Buller that federal rules have made it frustratingly difficult to hire staff and even get computers.

As part of a major reset of the inquiry, the Trudeau government should make sure that such mundane administrative matters don’t cripple this important initiative. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau added an extra minister to the Indigenous affairs department in August as a sign of his commitment, and he must make sure the bureaucracy doesn’t hold things back needlessly.

But beyond the administrative issues, there is clearly a fundamental disagreement about the purpose and structure of the inquiry. Poitras pointed to that in her letter of resignation in July, when she complained about the “status quo colonial model of hearings” and said she could no longer be part of the inquiry as it is now structured.

All this can’t be blamed on the existing commissioners. The issue of murdered and missing Indigenous women is extremely painful for many families and communities, and there’s a yawning gap between their expectations and what the inquiry as currently structured can do.

It’s also not entirely clear what families and groups critical of the inquiry so far are seeking. The first order of business of a new set of commissioners must be to clarify what a “non-colonial” inquiry would look like, how it would communicate and engage with the families involved, and what areas it could look into.

No doubt all that will also mean an extension of the time it has for its work, beyond the current deadline of December 2018. And it will mean more money, on top of its budget of $53.8 million.

Continuing along the current path isn’t an option. Distrust of the inquiry has been building for months and continues unabated. As early as May nearly 40 families, Indigenous leaders and artists and the Native Women’s Association of Canada insisted the inquiry must reset in order to save itself and ensure that families are “no longer feeling re-traumatized” by the process.

That’s the last thing such an inquiry should lead to. It’s tragic that things have come to this point, but better to face the problems directly and fix them than to let the commission continue on its present course.

The inquiry needs new leadership, a clearer mandate, and government will to make sure it can do its job.