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OTTAWA — The Native Women’s Association of Canada released its analysis of the terms of reference (ToR) for the national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls announced Wednesday by Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett.
While supporting the need for the inquiry, NWAC President Dawn Harvard expressed concerns about a number of areas of the (ToR) that will guide Commissioners Marion Buller, Michéle Audette, Marilyn Poitras, Qajaq Robinson and Brian Eyolfson.
Thursday the organization that was one of the first to put the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls on the national agenda.
1. The trauma informed and culturally based counseling appears to be limited to “the duration of their appearance before the Commission.” Trauma does not have a timeframe and we asked that families and survivors be provided with trauma informed and culturally based counselling services in their community as they get ready to present to the Inquiry, at the Inquiry and after presenting to the Inquiry. We learnt a lot from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission including that the telling of the story of trauma can further trigger trauma. Let’s use those lessons that we learned.
2. There does not appear to be an opportunity for families to pursue or reopen cases through the justice system. In fact, for families who want to pursue cases or re-open ones that have been part of the justice system, the Terms of Reference direct that the support the Commissioners can offer is to redirect them to the appropriate provincial or territorial victim services. Families are not looking for mainstream counseling services through victim services but justice. This is a missed opportunity.
3. There is no mention of the role of the provinces and territories and yet we know that some of the systemic issues will require provincial discussions, namely police services and the child welfare system. We cannot ignore what we know. Girls have described that they were sex trafficked from group homes and motels that are part of the child welfare system. We have a disproportionate number of Indigenous people who are in the criminal justice system. These issues are all interrelated and our expectation is that one reason we are having the Inquiry to address how these issues relate to violence against Indigenous women and girls.
4. There is no explicit mention of the need to work with the justice partners in order to make appropriate recommendations to ensure that there are changes in that system. We cannot ignore the fact that many family members or survivors of violence do not feel that they were treated respectfully or fairly by the justice system.
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