John Ivison: Inquiry into missing First Nations women right thing for Tories both politically and morally
This situation is so disturbing, it may be one of the few occasions where a public inquiry is warranted
Author of the article:
By John Ivison
Published Feb 14, 2013
Laurie Odjick managed to hold it together during a press conference on the subject of murdered and missing aboriginal women, but only just.
She was talking about her own experience as the mother of Maisy, who was last seen on Sept. 6, 2008, aged 16.
“Stephen Harper said these cases are being dealt with but he hasn’t met us or sat down with the families. Shame on him … he has no idea what we are going through. I invite him to invite us to sit down and we will talk,” she said.
If I were Mr. Harper, I’d take Ms. Odjick up on her offer. This issue, if handled adroitly, has the potential to repair some of the damage between the Conservative government and Canada’s First Nations, who can’t agree on much, but are united behind demands for a public inquiry into the number of aboriginal women who have been murdered or simply gone missing in recent years.
Samer Muscati, a Canadian co-researcher of a report detailing allegations of abuse at the hands of police, said Harper missed the point of the report — that aboriginal women and girls are often too traumatized to co-operate with police.
“Those comments ignore the fear of reprisal those victims have,” Muscati told The Canadian Press in an exclusive interview Thursday.
Conversely, if handled clumsily, it will further alienate the fastest growing segment of the population — a demographic whose buy-in the government needs, if it is going to address skills shortages and resource development.
The driving imperative for action though, is that something is rotten in the state — we have a situation that simply would not be tolerated were it white suburban teenagers who were disappearing, rather than Maisy Odjick and her friend Shannon Alexander from an Algonquin community in Maniwaki, Que.
NDP MP Niki Ashton, who called for an inquiry at the press conference, said aboriginal women are five to seven times more likely to die from violence than the national average.
Bridget Tolley of the Sisters in Spirit group put the number of murdered or missing women at over 1,000, a far higher rate than the estimate of 600 that has been used in the media.
In Question Period, Liberal MP Ralph Goodale said 84% of murders in Canada are solved, but the clearance rate drops to 50% for native women.
The Liberals put forward a motion for a House of Commons committee to take a closer look at the issue — something all parties in the House, including the Conservatives, support.
The government says it has taken the apparent rash of tragic cases seriously, pointing out it has strengthened sentencing for all violent offenders and earmarked $18-million to address gender-based violence.
Vic Toews, the Public Safety Minister, said he has asked the civilian-led RCMP public complaints commission to examine the subject, in light of allegations by Human Rights Watch that the Mounties failed to protect native women and girls in northern British Columbia, and even engaged in rape and other sexual assaults.
The government line is that action and enforcement are required, not study and debate.
Anyone with any evidence of wrongdoing should inform the appropriate police force, the Prime Minister told interim Liberal leader, Bob Rae, Wednesday.
“Just get on and do it,” he said.
That pre-supposes law enforcement is the solution, not part of the problem. There are concerns within the Conservative caucus that police become a scapegoat for problems of violence on reserves.
But this situation is so disturbing, it may be one of the few occasions where a public inquiry is warranted. The problem with the opposition parties portraying everyone as a victim, is that when a genuinely shocking situation emerges, the government and the media are inured to it. Yet this situation is like an open sore on the body politic.
Do we have, as seems likely, a systemic problem of violence against native women, the most marginalized members of society? Are police forces across the country guilty of failing to protect indigenous women and girls, or worse, are some rogue officers complicit in violence against them?
As former Justice Minister Irwin Cotler told the House, the government should call an inquiry before the end of the year and include in its terms of reference an examination of relations between the police and aboriginal women. The creation of a judicial commission is important for symbolic and psychological reasons, as well as at a substantive level, he said.
As Laurie Odjick knows better than anyone, the families of the victims have waited far too long to find out what happened to their mothers and daughters. “So many injustices have been done to our women. It’s time for answers.”
I Hope they are well.
