Indigenous families get new chance for justice
But some are upset inquiry into murdered and missing women will lack power to reopen cases
GATINEAU, QUE.— Families who believe investigators gave short shrift to their lost loved ones’ cases hope to have a second chance at justice as the next phase in the national inquiry on murdered and missing indigenous women and girls begins.
Canada’s first indigenous attorney general, Jody Wilson-Raybould, said the fiveperson commission can recommend to law enforcement that a criminal investigation be launched.
There is flexibility, under the inquiry’s mandate, for the commissioners, led by B.C. indigenous judge Marion Buller, to figure out how justice can be achieved for the families, said Wilson-Raybould, a former B.C. regional chief of the Assembly of First Nations and a member of the We Wai Kai Nation.
“But it also speaks to their ability in hearing the lived experiences of the families and the survivors, the ability to refer specific cases to the appropriate authorities, be it the police or the attorneys general of the provinces or territories, referring the case in terms where there may be the need for more investigations or more findings,” Wilson-Raybould said.
Witnesses can be compelled to testify before the inquiry and to summon all documents needed, Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett said.
However, the inquiry does not have power to conduct its own criminal investigation.
Cases must be referred to the police for that to happen, she said.
“The families who feel the death of their loved ones were called a suicide or an accident or an overdose as opposed to a murder, those patterns are the kinds of things the commissioners will have to look into,” Bennett told a press conference at the Canadian Museum of History on Wednesday.
But criminal examinations can’t take place in the inquiry itself because it “is not a criminal court,” said Bennett.
“Again, having both sides lawyering up is not what we feel is in the best use of the time of the commission in order to get to the root causes (of systemic violence).”
Some families are upset, however, that the inquiry was not given the teeth needed to reopen cases.
“This is the problem. Families wanted inquiry to reopen,” indigenous activist and lawyer Pam Palmater told the Star via Twitter, referring to sending cases back to provincial or territorial authorities.
Bryanne Machimity’s mother, Rena Fox, was found on Feb. 28, 2003, lying in a fetal position on a deserted road in Kakebeka Falls, outside Thunder Bay. Machimity has fought to find out any information about her mother’s death. Police say they do not consider it a homicide but the investigation remains open.
Machimity, 27, believes her mother was killed. She was 13 when she last saw her mother, and has spent most of her life in foster care.
Machimity, a young mother herself who lives in Kenora, Ont., wasn’t able to attend Wednesday’s event in Gatineau. She hopes everything goes as promised and people get answers.
“Going all these years with no closure is a hard thing, everyone deserves to know the truth. I can’t even imagine how the families of the missing cope,” Machimity said.
Buller, who has been both a civil and criminal lawyer, will lead the independent inquiry into why more than 1,181 aboriginal women and girls have died in the past several decades.
She was introduced to an audience of families, politicians and indigenous leaders gathered in the Grand Hall of the Canadian Museum of History.
She said the inquiry’s goal was to make “concrete recommendations” to protect the lives of indigenous women and girls.
Buller was presented a ceremonial birchbark basket holding a data drive containing all the information collected on behalf of the inquiry to date.
The $53.8-million inquiry, which will focus on the systemic issues that contribute to the risk of violence toward indigenous women and girls, begins in earnest on Sept. 1 and will last until Dec. 31, 2018. Policing practices and attitudes, child welfare and other social policies will also be examined.
“This is a historic day,” said Denise Maloney-Pictou, whose mother Annie Mae Pictou was found dead in 1976. She said her family has been waiting for 40 years for justice.
Families have faced a host of internal and external barriers, from problems with investigators to the struggles of dealing with grief, said Maloney-Pictou.
The power to refer specific cases back to provincial and territorial authorities with a recommendation for further investigation is an ability rarely given to inquiries, officials said.
Victims’ families have consistently complained of not having enough communication, if any, with police when dealing with the matter of their lost and murdered loved ones. Many feel their cases have been forgotten, dismissed or not taken seriously.
Native Women’s Association president Dawn Lavell-Harvard said the organization will be watching the progress of the inquiry and will make sure all the families who have cases that need to be re-examined are not forgotten and are heard by the commissioners.
“We cannot ignore the fact that many family members and the survivors of violence do not feel like they were treated respectfully or fairly by the justice system,” said Harvard.
“We will rely on the clear message from the minister and her words today the commitment that the police can and will be investigated and it is the responsibility of the commissioners to put the processes in place to make that happen.
“This today is truly a moment of hope. This has to be the last time that any family, any survivor, needs to tell their story before we take action.
“We need to make sure this inquiry succeeds,” Harvard said.
Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett said that while the commissioners will decide the format, elements of it will be informal to encourage families to come forward and tell their stories.
“Unlike other commissions, people don’t want rooms full of lawyers sorting things out in an adversarial way,” Bennett told reporters after the official launch.
Status of Women Minister Patty Hajdu said the inquiry will “lay bare” what she called the systemic discrimination aboriginal women face.
“Just as important, the inquiry must also examine how racism and sexism are embedded in the very institutions that are supposed to help and protect women and girls.
"Changing these attitudes and practices will require a steady and honest gaze,” said Hajdu.
National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations National Chief Perry Bellegarde called the inquiry a culmination of years of work by the families and friends of victims seeking a national investigation into the deaths of their loved ones.
“Now there is some opportunity and hope to end that violence in our communities,” Bellegarde said.
“Indigenous lives matter. . . . Everybody deserves justice.”