Local First Nations women and other women’s safety advocates are disappointed and offended the B.C. Liberal government won’t support a National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women.
Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation Minister Ida Chong divulged the decision in her comments at a recent National Aboriginal Women’s Summit. This prompted the BC Native Women’s Association to send a protest letter to Premier Christy Clark.
It explains support for an independent Canada-wide inquiry has been pledged by many provinces and provincial, national and international organizations – on a list that spans almost three pages – but British Columbia’s support was necessary for it to move forward.
Canim Lake Band (CLB) health director Sheila Dick says she doesn’t know who is pulling the ministry’s strings, but at face value, it seems Chong is “victimizing her own gender.”
“A national inquiry, if supported, is a ‘foot in the door’ to establishing some policy around the protection and safety of [all] women.
“Where do we stand as a gender? Are we not just as important as the rest of the women in Canada?”
While Dick’s position for the CLB is in a health capacity, she has a history of working extensively with the problem and negative effects of missing and murdered women in First Nation communities. She explains these unsolved crimes often significantly affect the health and well-being of the victims’ families.
Gail Edinger, who is the regional co-ordinator for the Community Co-ordination for Women’s Safety (CCWS) Program, works with the Ending Violence Association of British Columbia (EVABC), and a South Cariboo resident.
She suspects the province’s Missing Women Commission of Inquiry, headed up by commissioner Wally Oppal to look at victims from Vancouver’s East Side, is at the root of its lack of support for a national inquiry.
“I would be speculating, but I’m assuming the government feels they have spent their dollars on the [provincial inquiry].
“[But] I think Oppal’s inquiry was obsessively inadequate, and there should be a federal inquiry.”
Dick adds the greatest number of the missing and murdered Aboriginal women in Canada is from B.C., and many of those are not from Vancouver, but from the Interior – such as those on the Highway of Tears list.
In its failure to endorse the inquiry, government is “victimizing” all women across the province, she says.
“To me, it’s not only an attack on Aboriginal women, but on rural women. Just because we don’t live in a larger area doesn’t mean we don’t deserve the same protection and the same interest of the government.
“They’re saying: ‘let us ignore the humanness of the mothers and sisters and daughters because they are not as important as other people’.”
It’s an ongoing legacy in government that has been happening for 200 years, Dick explains, beginning in colonial times.
In the letter to Premier Clark, BCNWA president Barbara Morin says the number on the most current list of missing and murdered aboriginal women (582) is outdated, and it’s increasing substantially.
Morin’s letter notes a public independent inquiry would provide some desperately-needed answers and solutions, and foster an understanding of how to prevent further violence and loss of life.
Copies of Morin’s open letter, which points out an inquiry is a crucial step in implementing a later National Action Plan, were sent to various other authorities, including Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Dick notes Aboriginal girls and women are often fearful of police and the justice system, which they believe further compromises their safety and protection.
“Until we begin the healing of our women, we are going to continue to struggle with our wellness in our communities.”
