APTN News
The national inquiry looking into the violence perpetrated against Indigenous women and girls has set June 3 for the release of its final report.
The report was originally due April 30, but the government agreed to extend the date.
In a release sent Wednesday morning, the inquiry said the report will be presented to federal, provincial and territorial governments at a ceremony in Gatineau, Que., across the river from Ottawa.
“The Commissioners have completed their report after a process of invaluable validation with the National Family Advisory Circle, Grandmother Advisors, and the Métis, Inuit, Québec and 2SLGBTQQIA Advisory Committees,” the statement said.
Read the statement: National Inquiry to Present Final Report to Governments at Closing Ceremony in Gatineau, QC
According to the inquiry the report, “will comprise the sacred truths of 1,484 family members and survivors of violence and 83 knowledge-keepers, experts and officials who provided testimony at 24 hearings and statement gathering events held from coast-to-coast-to-coast in 2017 and 2018, as well as 819 people who shared their truths through artistic expressions.”
The inquiry was first announced Aug. 3, 2016 by Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett, and former attorney general and justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould.
Handed a two-year mandate and $53.8 million, inquiry suffered from endless resignations of legal and executive staff, front line workers, and the resignation of one of its commissioners.
On June 5, 2018, Ottawa gave the inquiry a one-year extension – a year less than what it requested.
In November 2017, the inquiry released a series of interim recommendations.
The federal government says it is acting on a number of them including increasing health support and victim services, establishing a commemoration fund to “honour the lives and legacies of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls,” and addressing service gaps for Indigenous peoples “throughout the criminal justice system.”
(Editor’s Note: The original story said that the inquiry did not have the powers to compel the RCMP or other police forces to testify. This was an error. Under the Inquiries Act the commissioners did have the powers of subpoena.)
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