Inquiry design meeting #10: January 21-22, 2016, Montreal, Quebec
The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls held its tenth engagement meeting in Montreal, Quebec, on Thursday and Friday, January 21-22, 2016. This pre-Inquiry meeting included survivors, families and loved ones. Their experiences, views and contributions will be used to help design the inquiry.
A summary of the meeting is provided below. The summary is not a complete account of the discussions. Instead, it highlights the key themes that emerged from this engagement meeting. Read a copy of the discussion guide used at this meeting or complete the on-line survey to share your own views.
Choose a topic
Overview
The Montreal engagement session was conducted with survivors, families, loved ones and front line organizations over a two-day period. On day one, participants registered and attended an orientation session, while on the second day survivors, families and loved ones took part in a sharing circle with the Ministers and then engaged in a discussion about how best to design an Inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. Front-line organizations also participated in the Inquiry design discussion.
On the first day, participants met for an orientation session and were invited to begin sharing their stories. Participants expressed their appreciation for the announcement of an Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and their gratitude for being included in the pre-inquiry design process.
The second day was dedicated to how the inquiry should be designed. At the start of the day, the room was blessed and traditional ceremonies were performed by Mohawk, Algonquin and Inuit Elders, who also explained the significance of these ceremonies for the Indigenous peoples of the area. Smudging, the lighting of the kudlik lamp and a special drumming ceremony, with a song specifically written for Indigenous women who have been murdered or are still missing, was performed by a men's drumming group wishing to signal their support in the inquiry process. To begin the day, opening speeches were held by the Elders, Ministers and facilitator. Participants were able to listen and participate in their choice of English, French and Inuktitut.
Who attended
Survivors, families and loved ones of murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls attended the pre-inquiry meeting. Representatives of front-line organizations were also in attendance. Other participants included:
- The Hon. Carolyn Bennett, Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada
- The Hon. Jody Wilson-Raybould, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
- The Hon. Mélanie Joly, Minister of Canadian Heritage
Officials from the departments were in attendance throughout the engagement session.
Ministers stressed the need to engage first with survivors, family and loved ones to "get it right".
Nearly 75 family members and loved ones participated from Indigenous communities in the surrounding area. Elders and health support workers were also on-site to provide support and create a supportive place for discussions.
Leadership and participation
Participants were asked who should lead the Inquiry and provided some of the following feedback:
- Indigenous people should be on any body tasked with running the inquiry
- the team that leads the inquiry must be multi-faceted and broad
- an inquiry should be led by someone with a journalistic style
- criminal investigation experts (both Indigenous and non-Indigenous) should be involved in leading an inquiry
- a special group, which includes family members should be part of the leadership
- there should be a special task force at each stage of the inquiry
Participants also identified which groups should be given the opportunity to take part in the inquiry:
- family members from each community, elders, survivors, friends and witnesses
- front-line workers and support workers
- police, community justice workers and offenders
- political organizations and leadership from Indigenous communities including chiefs, council and traditional or medicine people
- not only those with "official" titles should participate – community members are critical
- many Ministers and departments from the federal and provincial governments should be part of an Inquiry process
- many different ages/generations and perspectives should be included in an inquiry
- inquiry must include and hear from men
- Gay/lesbian and transgender people must also be part the inquiry
Participants stressed the importance of involving survivors, families and loved ones. To make this possible, participants said the inquiry must:
- understand that every story is important and needs to be respected
- provide proper time for families to prepare and travel to an Inquiry
- create a safe space for families to be willing to share
- consider confidentiality and security
- provide equality in an Inquiry – not discriminate between different communities or different Indigenous groups
- translate printed materials into Indigenous languages, including specific dialects, and ensure all participants can express themselves in their preferred language
- consider the needs of remote Inuit communities
- provide financial compensation for testimony, including for loss of working days and childcare
- provide legal support
- hold debrief sessions at the end of each day to allow people to decompress
Priorities and key issues
Participants identified the issues the Inquiry must address if it is to produce recommendations for specific actions. These issues include:
- "accidents" in Indigenous communities must be examined by an inquiry e.g. drownings, shootings, car accidents, boating accidents etc
- suicide in Indigenous communities must be examined closely
- deaths in institutions
- practices around autopsy, forensics and investigation as they apply to criminal cases involving Indigenous persons
- the vulnerability which Indigenous people forced into urban areas find themselves facing
- drug and alcohol abuse in Indigenous communities and by victims and perpetrators and the connection between mental health and addiction
- post-traumatic stress
- stereotypes about Indigenous women in Canada
- issues of homelessness compounded with racism
- policing, including issues tied to training in interacting with Indigenous communities, dealing with cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women, stereotyping and profiling, information sharing with families and communities,
- the communication between various police services (on-reserve and off-reserve)
- police violence towards Indigenous peoples and deaths of Indigenous people caused by police
- the treatment of Indigenous people in the criminal justice system
- the lengths of time taken by the criminal justice system in missing and murdered cases
- jurisdictional issues – provincial/territorial and federal but also international
- the child welfare system and particularly issues with children being removed from their communities
Participants want the inquiry's final report to include recommendations for specific actions including:
- healing needs to be a priority
- focused efforts on prevention and on concrete solutions
- restore the faith and confidence in police
- initiate a full review of the criminal justice system as it applies to Indigenous peoples
- establish services to assist Indigenous people in navigating the legal system
- establish Indigenous liaisons in communities to help advocate for rights and ensure proper treatment by institutions
- address the gaps in services and support for families on and off-reserve
- create a central repository for information on missing and murdered women
- ensure chiefs and communities have access to resources to address their own needs
- identify and properly mark the numerous unmarked graves
- create proper memorials for missing and murdered women and girls
- provide funding and outreach to support a return to cultural practices and traditional activities
- implement the Truth and Reconciliation Commission calls to action
- dedicate more resources for unsolved murders and cold cases
- integrate the results of the Inquiry into the provincial educational curriculum so that these are not simply statistics
- Raise awareness about Indigenous people's history and the effects of colonialism and racism
Support and cultural practices
Participants outlined the need to include support as well as traditional practices and ceremonies in the inquiry process. The inquiry must also include healing processes to acknowledge and address the trauma felt by those affected.
Recommendations on these areas include:
- proper grieving needs to be addressed and group healing is vital
- people require support to gain closure, move forward and heal
- spiritual healers must be present
- services and supports must continue after an Inquiry
- mental health services must be made a priority
- community supports and networks must be built and expanded
- respect of cultural differences must be supported
- funds must be provided for long-term healing
Additional comments
As well as discussing the questions listed in the discussion guide, participants were invited to share other comments and views on the design of the inquiry. These include:
- an Inquiry must have the force of law
- Indigenous people need to own this problem – it's not only a government problem – and Indigenous people have to be part of the solution
- funding for activities which support eradication of violence against Indigenous women must be increased
- friendship centres should receive more funding to support Indigenous peoples
- pre-inquiry period should be longer and involve many more cities, including smaller communities
- inquiry meetings must be better advertised (newspaper, radio, TV)
- there should be individual, family and group sessions as part of Inquiry
- wherever data collection is undertaken, Indigenous persons should be employed to collect and analyze data
- culturally-sensitive counselling should be prioritized
- families and survivors must get answers to be healed from their traumas
- support for a return to a traditional government should be provided