Dale Bass – Kamloops This Week
With the work has just begun for the new federal Special Committee on Indigenous Women, Cathy McLeod isn’t about to make any predictions on what its members might discuss or decide.
The Conservative MP for Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo is one of seven government representatives on the committee, with four NDP MPs and one Liberal MP filling out the roster.
Because of the committee’s fledgling status, McLeod was reluctant to answer questions about the RCMP saying it doubts 600 aboriginal women have gone missing in Canada or whether a national inquiry — which virtually every aboriginal advocacy group has called for — is required.
“I think this committee is an excellent place to be and we have a year to do the work, so we need to look at it in the broad perspective,” McLeod said in answer to questions about the numbers of missing women and a possible inquiry.
Pressed, the MP said she was not going to speculate on what the committee might decide, noting the motion that created it — a rarity in the House of Commons as it passed unanimously — is broad.
The motion noted “… a disproportionate number of indigenous women and girls have suffered violence, gone missing or been murdered over the past three decades,” adding the government has a responsibility to provide the missing with justice and their families with healing as it works with partners to end the violence.
McLeod said she was pleased to be chosen for the group, not only because she comes from B.C., the province where a stretch of road is now called the Highway of Tears because of the number of aboriginal women who disappeared from it, but because of her own background.
As a nurse, McLeod said, she spent a lot of time working with many aboriginal communities and “witnessing the challenges they face.”
A report from the committee is due back in Parliament by Feb. 14, 2014.
