About the National Inquiry and Its Final Report
- Barbara Biley -
Girls and boys from the 13 provinces and territories hand the report to
the provincial representatives during the ceremony.
The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered
Indigenous
Women and Girls (MMIWG) was announced in December 2015, and
officially began its work in September 2016. Two-and-a-half years
later, despite the resignation of various commissioners and staff
persons and lack of cooperation from the federal government to
facilitate its work, it released its 1,071-page final report on
June 3, in the Grand Hall of the Museum of History in Gatineau.
The mandate of the inquiry was "to gather evidence, and to
examine and report on the systemic causes of all forms of
violence against Indigenous women and girls and 2SLGBTQQIA
individuals in Canada by looking at patterns and underlying
factors."
The inquiry's final report, entitled Reclaiming
Power and
Place, concluded that murdered and missing Indigenous women
and girls are part of an overall genocide against Indigenous
peoples in Canada. The final report is divided into 11 chapters
of findings plus 231 recommendations, or "Calls for Justice."
There are also two supplemental reports: a 159-page report
focused on experiences in Quebec, with 21 recommendations; and a
46-page report focused on the inquiry's genocide analysis.
The key factor in the inquiry coming into being and
issuing its final report has been the tenacity of the friends and
families of the victims, who refused to permit their sisters,
daughters, mothers and aunties to be dismissed and forgotten. Also
decisive were the efforts of all those who are fighting to see that
there are no more victims and that the Canadian state's colonial
outlook, and its refusal to uphold nation-to-nation relations and to
fulfill all of its responsibilities to the Indigenous peoples is ended.
Altogether 2,380 people participated in the $90-million national
inquiry, including 468 survivors and families. More than 1,000 hours of
testimony from survivors, witnesses, and families informed the
inquiry's report. Many others were unable to participate for various
reasons, including the Liberal government's denial of the
commissioners' request for increased funding and a two-year extension
of the inquiry's timeline so more people could be heard.
Even as the inquiry was carrying out its work, more
than
130 Indigenous women and girls were reported to be victims of homicide,
or whose deaths were deemed suspicious, or who died while in
institutional care, according to two databases -- a rate of at
least three deaths per month. The inquiry said it could not
determine a count for the number of MMIWG cases over the decades
and across the country. However, it considers the 2014 RCMP
figures that report 1,181 missing and murdered Indigenous women and
girls between 1980 and 2012 as likely to be an underestimate. The
Native Women's Association of Canada puts the number closer to
3,000. "No
one knows an exact number of missing and murdered Indigenous
women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA people in Canada," says the report.
"Thousands of women's deaths or disappearances have likely gone
unrecorded over the decades, and many families likely did not
feel ready or safe to share with the National Inquiry before our
timelines required us to close registration."
Regardless, the
figures show both the indifference of the state authorities to
MMIWG, plus the pressing need for immediate action to address
these ongoing crimes. The report points out that the genocide of
which MMIWG are a part "has been empowered by colonial
structures, evidenced notably by the Indian Act, the
Sixties Scoop, residential schools, and breaches of human and
Inuit, Métis and First Nations rights, leading directly to the
current increased rates of violence, death, and suicide of
Indigenous populations."
The four national inquiry commissioners -- Chief
Commissioner
Marion Buller, and Commissioners Brian Eyolfson, Qajaq Robinson
and Michèle Audette -- presented their report at a ceremony with
some 500 people present. Attendees included Prime Minister Justin
Trudeau, heads of national and regional Indigenous organizations
and many politicians, including leaders of the NDP, the
Conservative Party and the Green Party.
At the ceremony, Chief Commissioner Buller said
the
truths made public in the final report "cannot be unheard," and
that the 231 calls for justice in the final report are not mere
recommendations but "legal imperatives" which must be
implemented. She said, "Although we have been mandated to provide
recommendations, it must be understood that these
recommendations, which we frame as 'Calls for Justice,' are legal
imperatives -- they are not optional. The Calls for Justice arise
from international and domestic human and Indigenous rights laws,
including the Charter, the
Constitution, and the Honour of the
Crown. As such, Canada has a legal obligation to fully implement
these Calls for Justice and to ensure Indigenous women, girls and
2SLGBTQQIA people live in dignity."
At a press conference later, Buller pointed out that the
source of the ongoing violence against Indigenous women and girls
is to be found in the Canadian state and its policies, noting,
"The Canadian state has, and continues, to enact laws and enforce
policies that perpetuate the violation of human and Indigenous
rights. This is colonization. This is discrimination. This is
genocide. There needs to be a transformational change in how we
build and maintain relationships between Indigenous and
non-Indigenous people."
The inquiry's 231 calls for justice include 46
Inuit-specific,
29 Métis-specific, and 32 2SLGBTQQIA-specific calls. Other calls
are divided by subject area -- from culture to health and
wellness, to human security, to justice. There are
industry-specific calls as well, for media and social influencers,
attorneys and law societies, educators, health and wellness
service providers, social workers, police and transportation
services, the hospitality industry, the resource extraction and
development industries, and others. There was also calls for all
Canadians to read the final report and become informed about the
historic violence against Indigenous women and girls and to stand
with Indigenous peoples to hold all governments to account and
ensure that the recommendations made in the final report are
implemented.
For the National Inquiry's 231 Calls for Justice click here.
To read the full report click here: Volume
1a and Volume
1b.
To read the Supplementary
Report
--
Genocide, click here.
This article was published in
Volume 49 Number 21 - June 8, 2019
Article Link:
About the National Inquiry and Its Final Report - Barbara Biley
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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