Politicians on both sides of the floor are calling it a historic day for Canada.
After years of pressure from aboriginal communities, family members, advocates, human rights groups and frontline workers, the federal government finally announced details of the long-awaited inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women and girls.
What worries us, though, is the commission’s lack of power to compel provinces and territories to follow through on its recommendations.
The five-person commission is well poised to succeed with the appointment of B.C.’s first female First Nations judge, Marion Buller, at its helm.
It’s also been given a hefty budget ($53.8 million for the duration of the inquiry) and a reasonable amount of leeway when it comes to who it interviews or summons as witnesses and what documents it can request. It’ll also examine the roles of institutions, including the coroners’ offices, governments and police forces.
Once the commission completes its mandate, it will make recommendations to eliminate (or at the very least reduce the rate of) violence against aboriginal women and girls.
But it’s up to the provinces and territories to implement the recommendations.
Will change truly happen if it’s voluntary?
Call us cynical, call us cold, call us what you want, but we’re not the only ones who have concerns.
The coalition on missing and murdered indigenous women and girls, a group initially formed in response to B.C.’s Missing Women Commission of Inquiry, released a statement Wednesday sounding the alarm on “gaps in the framework that stand to undermine the good intentions that have led to the formation of the inquiry.”
Lorelei Williams, founder of Butterflies in Spirit, an aboriginal advocacy group that aims to draw attention to the thousands of cases of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls, shared her fears with media at an event in Vancouver.
“I don’t know if I am ready to embrace this inquiry,” she told reporters.
Ain’t that the truth.
However valid the concerns raised about the commission are though, we’re choosing to be optimistic – because what’s the alternative?
According to a 2014 report by Amnesty International, indigenous women in Canada – that includes First Nations, Inuit and Métis – are almost three times more likely to report being a victim of a violent crime than their non-indigenous counterparts.
We could go on.
So, when the commission releases its recommendations, we expect government to act on them. If they don’t, we will demand they do – and so should you.
