Investigators comb Que. reserve for answers in disappearance of Indigenous women

A well-known player in the painful national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women could be on the verge of discovering more details about her daughter’s case.

Investigators from Quebec’s provincial police force are combing grounds near a creek in Kitigan Zibi First Nation after receiving a tip regarding the 2008 disappearance of Laurie Odjick’s daughter and her friend.

Odjick has spent the past nine years searching for answers since the pair of teenagers disappeared from the reserve, located near Maniwaki, Que.

Odjick is now member of an advisory group of family members giving advice to the national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

Margaret Froh, president of the Metis Nation of Ontario, says it is important to remember that despite the national attention, Indigenous women and girls are still going missing or being found murdered on a continual basis across Canada.

She is urging the federal government to act quickly to replace Marilyn Poitras — a Metis commissioner from Saskatchewan who announced her resignation from the commission last week.

Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett has yet to say if a replacement commissioner will be named to assist four other commissioners in the twoyear study.