Murdered women hearings to start in May in Whitehorse

Participants are encouraged to contact commission

The chief commissioner of the inquiry into murdered and missing indigenous women and girls said the panel is in contact with many families and survivors who want to participate and that the discussion surrounding how many names are on lists of participants is painting a confusing picture.

The long-awaited inquiry begins May 29 in Whitehorse with all five commissioners at the first public hearings into the national tragedy of the deaths and disappearances of at least 1,200 indigenous girls and women over several decades.

Chief Commissioner Marion Buller said the inquiry chose Whitehorse for its historic start because the territory of Yukon was welcoming to the national commission early in the process.

The inquiry has not been given lists of participants who have to attend. Families and survivors who want to share their stories are being asked to contact the inquiry directly. The inquiry will keep its own list of people who want to participate in the hearings to ensure those participants are talking to community relations staff, health workers and the legal team.

“To some extent, the whole discussion of lists in the media right now, other than our list, is confusing. We will be setting that straight in the near future. If people want to participate and tell us their stories, they have to contact us,” said Buller, British Columbia’s first female indigenous judge.

“I’m not too sure how or where this got turned around. But I suppose it really doesn’t matter because in a practical sense, it got turned around and now we have to deal with it,” said Buller, who grew up in Toronto. She is a member of Saskatchewan’s Mistawasis First Nation, 70 kilometres west of Prince Albert.

Governments and agencies are “bound by privacy rules” so they can’t give the inquiry specific lists with names and numbers, she said. “They’d be breaking the law to do that. . . . Being on somebody else’s list isn’t an automatic inclusion on our list because we may not have up to date addresses, telephone numbers or even proper names. We need people to contact us.”

The hearings will be held in non-courthouse buildings and settings. Taking an informal approach, they will probably be held in community and friendship centres. “We don’t want formal commissioners sitting at a higher level than everyone else in the proceedings. We don’t want a formal feel to it. What that will look like will be more of a round table or a circle. We are trying to keep the technical equipment to a minimum so it won’t get in people’s way. . . . We are hoping it’ll be more like a gentle conversation, there won’t be a cross-examination,” she said.

“We don’t want a formal feel to it . . . We are hoping it’ll be more like a gentle conversation, there won’t be a cross-examination.” MARION BULLER CHIEF COMMISSIONER

Local elders will be invited to participate, and local protocols and languages are welcome, Buller added. Health support workers will also be on hand before, during and after the testimonies. “We are asking people to bare their souls and to talk about very painful experiences and those feelings last when they go home too,” she said.

For the past few months, the commissioners have been travelling to different regions in the country, holding pre-meetings to learn about what is important in each area. The inquiry, which was formally announced last August, is expected to produce a report by the end of December 2018. Buller said despite questions as to whether or not they can finish on time, they expect to meet their deadlines.