Dear Right Honourable Prime Minister Trudeau and Minister Bennett,
The Coalition on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in BC (“the Coalition”) is comprised of family members and survivors, and more than 40 entities including Indigenous nations, Indigenous organizations, front-line service organizations, feminist and women’s organizations, legal advocates, faith-based groups and provincial organizations. The Coalition initially came together in response to the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry (MWCI) in British Columbia, overseen by Commissioner Wally Oppal, and has grown since. The breadth of representation and our experience with the MWCI makes the Coalition well-positioned to respond to and inform the National Inquiry.
Our vision is that the rights and lives of Indigenous women and girls are fully upheld, honoured and protected, and that Indigenous women and girls have the right to participate fully and effectively in all of the decisions that affect their lives. We work together with a mission to eliminate systemic violence against Indigenous women and girls; uphold and demand justice for families of the murdered and disappeared; demand action and accountability from the provincial and federal government to stop the crisis of murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls; and to influence the public consciousness.
It has been close to two years since the announcement to proceed with a National Inquiry into the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls was made in December 2015. Many people, especially family members, have been frustrated by the process. Multiple people have left significant positions within the National Inquiry with the latest resignation from Commissioner Marilyn Poitras. This disturbing trend should be cause for significant alarm for this government.
Over the years, family members, advocates and frontline workers alike have called for a National Inquiry. To have waited decades for a National Inquiry, we cannot emphasize enough the importance of this work at this moment. While we are utterly dismayed and disheartened by recent happenings within the National Inquiry, the Coalition remains steadfast in our desire to continue our longstanding work in supporting family members, raising awareness, and advocating for a public and inclusive National Inquiry, developed in partnership with Indigenous women and communities, with a commitment to implementation of results. As offered at our meeting with Minister Bennett in January, 2016, we continue to stand ready to share our expertise and experiences so that the National Inquiry does not make the same grave mistakes that the MWCI did.
As you have said yourself, Minister Bennett, the National Inquiry is seen by many survivors and families as “the chance of a lifetime” to tell their truth after waiting many years to be heard. Yet, we have learned that only a hundred family members or survivors have been asked to be witnesses in the inquiry. It was noted that due to privacy reasons, the Department of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada has not shared the contacts obtained from the pre-inquiry phase. Those who participated in the pre-inquiry were required to sign in at the various locations where the Pre-Inquiry hearings were held.
While the government is absolutely correct in ensuring that privacy is respected, we would like to know if your department, Minister Bennett, has undertaken to pro-actively obtain the consent to share the names and contact information of the participants with the National Inquiry so that the National Inquiry can undertake to contact those individuals and to inform them of the work of the Inquiry and to invite them to participate. If the department has not yet done this work, we ask why not, and whether you will now expeditiously undertake to reach out to those individuals to seek their consent so you are able to provide the contact information to the National Inquiry as a means to assist them with their important work.
In addition, the Coalition has heard loud and clear that one of the biggest fears and concerns from families and survivors about reaching out to the National Inquiry is that they do not know what the process will look like. We cannot emphasize enough the significance of this concern given the history of colonial treatment and traumas experienced by families and survivors. The Coalition has consistently highlighted the need for ongoing consultation and transparency with impacted people and groups throughout the National Inquiry process in order to optimize participation. We acknowledge that different processes may be appropriate for different communities, making it more challenging to communicate clearly and proactively. Given that the National Inquiry has conducted its first hearing in Whitehorse, it should at the very least be able to communicate a basic procedural framework for families and survivors, and to answer the questions and concerns that many have about the process going forward. This outline of participant process needs to be communicated by better means than the existing FAQ section on the website, which due to connectivity issues, is inaccessible to many who may wish to become involved in the Inquiry.
As indicated by Terry Ladue, a witness who participated in the Whitehorse hearings, “Dealing with this today, for me, is letting go of something that I haven’t let go of for 52 years, and that’s the anger I have towards the government officials and the anger I have towards the RCMP. “I don’t trust. You want my trust, you’ve got to earn my trust. If I see this fall apart, I’ll never trust again.”
Prime Minister Trudeau and Minister Bennett, we hope you will agree that there should be no question in your mind that you and your government cannot and must not squander this opportunity. To ensure the success of the National Inquiry, it must go forward in a respectful way; to that end, much needs to be addressed in order for this Inquiry to reach its potential.
For your reference, we have attached our Feb. 13, 2016, submission to your government regarding the design of the National Inquiry, as well as notes from a Jan. 12, 2016 meeting with Minister Bennett regarding the framing of the National Inquiry. Many of the recommendations within this submission hold true today, and must be addressed for a National Inquiry to meet the needs of those affected by its work. We also list a number of foundational issues below, especially pertaining to the Terms of Reference, which have been previously raised but remain outstanding. It is not too late to ensure that the National Inquiry is a success and we call on you to undertake meaningful action to address the following:
1) Families, survivors, families of the heart and friends must be empowered to participate in this Inquiry. This requires clear and concise communication from the National Inquiry. This means transparency and a shift from a colonial, top-down approach. This also means recognizing that families and survivors are the ones with the solutions and vision. Given that different communities may wish for different processes, we are mindful of the dilemma faced by the National Inquiry in developing informed processes while upholding transparency and good communication. At the very least, we suggest that a basic framework could be communicated, subject to community-specific modifications.
2) There is no explicit provision to examine the role policing has had in causing or contributing to the violence against Indigenous women and girls. The RCMP and other police departments, such as the Vancouver Police Department, have an extremely damaged relationship with Indigenous communities, and ignoring this reality is deeply problematic. Several Indigenous women and families in Canada have reported instances of racism, brutality, and negligence on the part of law enforcement. While the Commissioners may be able to look into this if they choose under the Terms of Reference, we feel that this must be an explicit mandate.
3) The Terms of Reference places emphasis on the examination of systemic causes of violence, proper and inclusive accommodations for victims and witnesses, and healing for families and communities. The Coalition is pleased that the federal government has included these provisions, as British Columbia has failed to make significant progress on many of the recommendations from the MWCI, and has largely ignored these issues and alienated families. That said, we are also concerned that without a provision specifically for the investigation of policing, the National Inquiry will not lead to tangible change. The Coalition notes that systemic causes have been studied previously, and urges the National Inquiry to review existing reports and begin addressing these systemic causes.
4) The Terms of Reference state that if family members wish to contest old cases or report misconduct on the part of the police, the Commissioners are to direct them towards the “appropriate authorities”—the same authorities who caused them this injustice in the first place. This does not, in any shape or form, provide families with proper or adequate redress, or any form of closure or justice.
5) There must be an accountability framework in place to ensure that final recommendations from the Inquiry are fully resourced and implemented. It has previously been acknowledged that the BC provincial government cherry-picked which recommendations of the MWCI to implement (and which would be dismissed) without consulting with Indigenous community members and organizations. This cannot happen with the National Inquiry.
6) Provinces, territories, and federal authorities must work together at all levels to make this Inquiry a success. Progress on this issue is too valuable to be hampered by bureaucratic processes. For example, the recently announced Family Information Liaison Units (FILU) in BC were delayed due to the Provincial Election, which is unacceptable as this is a non-partisan issue. There must also be a coordinated strategy towards addressing rural and urban separation, as well as the fact that many affected by this tragedy move from place to place and may be affected by hearings and processes beyond one province, territory, or region.
The Coalition was pleased that the federal government mandated the National Inquiry to examine systemic causes of violence and has taken into account the needs of vulnerable communities and witnesses. However, given the importance and the promise of the National Inquiry, we are deeply concerned about the gaps in the framework and roll out of the National Inquiry that stand to undermine the good intentions that have led to its formation. Decades of ceaseless work by women across the country calling for solutions grounded in Indigenous laws has culminated in this Inquiry.
We therefore urgently ask that you both address these critical concerns. In the meantime, as mentioned before, we feel strongly that your government should also take immediate action to ensure support is provided to those who are still at risk today by investing in the frontline organizations that are doing valuable work in support of Indigenous women and girls. Additionally, there are intersecting issues that disproportionately affect Indigenous women and girls which your government must immediately address. These include that the federal government must comply with multiple orders from the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal to be in full compliance of Jordan’s Principle; that the Federal government must take immediate steps to work with provincial and territorial counterparts to ensure adequate support is provided to families and their children who are at risk or are apprehended; and, inter alia, that the federal government make an immediate investment into the development of safe, secure affordable housing for Indigenous Peoples. There is no need to wait for the National Inquiry to finish its work before providing these vital supports.
We hope you will both agree that there is much important work to do to support Indigenous women and girls to live with dignity and in safety and security. We look forward to hearing from you as we continue to carry on our work and witness in honouring all those who have gotten us this far.
Sincerely,
The Coalition on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in BC, including:
Yale First Nation Social Development
Vancouver Council of Women, Rosemary Mallory
Union Gospel Mission
Union of BC Indian Chiefs
RainCity Housing
Myrna Cranmer, February 14th Memorial March Committee
Jenny Kwan, MP for Vancouver East
Holly Jarrett
First Nations Summit
Evelyn Youngchief, February 14th Memorial March Committee
Downtown Eastside Power of Women Group
Downtown Eastside Women’s Center
Christina Coad
Carrier Sekani Family Services
Butterflies in Spirit, Lorelei Williams
BC Civil Liberties Association
Battered Women’s Support Services
Amnesty International - Canada
Aboriginal Women’s Action Network, Fay Blaney