‘End this ongoing genocide’

The arrest of a man accused of killing four women, all believed to be Indigenous, shows vulnerable women and girls are subject to the dangerous outcomes if governments don’t work together to end gender and racebased violence, Indigenous advocates say.

Several Indigenous groups are urging governments and other institutions in power to fulfil the 231 Calls for Justice outlined in the final report from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, released in 2019.

“The political will of all levels of government is required to end this ongoing genocide,” the National Family and Survivors Circle said in a statement Friday.

Winnipeg police on Thursday charged Jeremy Skibicki, 35, with first-degree murder in the deaths of Morgan Harris, Marcedes Myran, Rebecca Contois and an unidentified woman. Their bodies have not been found.

Contois, Harris and Myran are Indigenous and police said they believe the fourth victim is Indigenous as well.

“Their deaths serve as horrific proof that serious actions must be taken to stop these crimes,” the Native Women’s Association of Canada said in a statement. “They explain why the government cannot just hold an inquiry and say job done. The inquiry was just the first step. Now it is time for serious action.”

The national inquiry called the murders and disappearances of Indigenous women genocide in it’s final report.

The Native Women’s Association released its report card on the government’s progress earlier this year and found little progress had been achieved.

Grand Chief Cathy Merrick with the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs echoed calls for the federal and provincial governments to work with police tackling root causes of violence against Indigenous women and girls. “We must work together to honour the 231 Calls to Justice and act immediately,” she said in a release.

The family advocate for the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs said First Nations women are being failed.

“We continue to witness the vulnerability of our unsheltered women,” Cora Morgan said in statement.

“They feel their voices do not matter or their lives do not matter. Our women deserve more.”