(Kevin Hart, regional chief for the Assembly of First Nations. Credit: www.afn.ca)
A Manitoba chief says Indigenous women in the north should be compensated for the sexual abuse they allegedly suffered at the hands of hydro workers decades ago.
Kevin Hart, regional chief for the Assembly of First Nations, says there should also be a broader inquiry into resource development and the treatment of Indigenous women.
Manitoba’s arms-length Clean Environment Commission held hearings earlier this year on the environmental and social effects of energy development between the 1950s and 1980s.
The commission released its report this week and said it heard the arrival of a largely male construction workforce led to the sexual abuse of women around the Fox Lake Cree Nation.
Sustainable Development Minister Rochelle Squires called the allegations disturbing and said she is referring the issue to the RCMP.
Hart says he wasn’t surprised by what he read in the commission’s report.
“This report just solidified what people have been saying, namely First Nations people in northern Manitoba, for a number of years. Injustices did occur, especially to our women,” he said Wednesday.
“Those crimes have gone unpunished and this report backs up the claims of our women of what occurred to them during that time.”
Hart said it’s not for him to say where compensation for the women should come from, but it should be determined by the courts.
“I truly believe that the women, when they come forward, should be entitled to compensation for what has occurred to them, especially for the trauma and everything.”
Any act of rape should be reported, charges filed, and convictions (prison sentence) applied to ALL that committed these horrible acts of violence, compensation to the women and families affected by this….violent crime can and does affect an entire famlily! Regardless of race, religion etc…How does this go on….does a company turn a blind eye hoping that the crime might go away? How about the managers, supervisors of said company that may have known about the crimes and worked to cover it up to save their jobs! May justice be swift!
what does hydro have to with what went on between a man and a woman? if either party thought they had been victims they could have reported it to the police in a timely fashion. if a white guy had caught a case of syphilis or herpes from one of the native women could he sue 50 years later?
Any act of rape should be reported, charges filed, and convictions (prison sentence) applied to ALL that committed these horrible acts of violence, compensation to the women and families affected by this….violent crime can and does affect an entire famlily! Regardless of race, religion etc…How does this go on….does a company turn a blind eye hoping that the crime might go away? How about the managers, supervisors of said company that may have known about the crimes and worked to cover it up to save their jobs! May justice be swift!
what does hydro have to with what went on between a man and a woman? if either party thought they had been victims they could have reported it to the police in a timely fashion. if a white guy had caught a case of syphilis or herpes from one of the native women could he sue 50 years later?