About the commissioners
Learn about the commissioners leading the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and how they were chosen.
The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls is independent from the federal government. The inquiry will establish its own office and website. Contact information for the inquiry will be posted as soon as it is available. Contact the inquiry directly to learn how to participate in or work for the inquiry.
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Selection process
The commissioners appointed to lead the independent inquiry represent the background, characteristics and experience that we heard about in the pre-inquiry design phase that will be necessary to lead this inquiry.
To learn more about what these commissioners are doing during the independent inquiry, visit About the independent inquiry.
Chief Commissioner, the Honourable Marion Buller
Provincial Court Judge, British Columbia
Mistawasis First Nation, Saskatchewan
The Honourable Judge Marion Buller was appointed the first female First Nations judge in British Columbia in 1994. Prior to being appointed to the Provincial Court bench, Judge Buller worked as a civil and criminal lawyer (1988-1994). Judge Buller served as both a director and president of Canada's Indigenous Bar Association and has been a member of the B.C. Police Commission and the Law Court Education Society. She was the Commission Counsel for the Caribou-Chilcotin Justice Inquiry and published reports and articles dealing with Aboriginal rights and legal services for First Nations in British Columbia. Judge Buller was instrumental in starting the First Nations Court of British Columbia in 2006.
Judge Buller received her bachelor's degree in anthropology from the University of Victoria, and went on to study law there as well. Judge Buller is currently resident in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, where she sits on the Provincial Court Bench, but maintains band membership with the Mistawasis First Nation in Saskatchewan.
Commissioner Michèle Audette
Former President of Femmes autochtones du Québec (Québec Native Women's Association)
Mani Utenam, Québec
Born to a French father and Innu mother, in the Innu community of Mani Utenam in Québec, Michèle Audette is a native long-time Innu speaker. She began her political career very early having been elected one of the youngest-ever Presidents of the Québec Native Women's Association (QNWA), a Native Women's Association of Canada member organization, where she has advocated actively to support women's issues. She was instrumental in helping Ecole Nationale D'Administration Publique create an innovative program in the field of Aboriginal public policy. Additionally, from 2004-2009, Ms. Audette served as Deputy Minister at the provincial Secretariat of the Status of Women in Québec. She was the recipient of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012.
Commissioner Qajaq Robinson
Associate, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP
Iqaluit, Nunavut
Qajaq Robinson is a graduate of the Akitsiraq Law Program – a partnership between the University of Victoria and Nunavut Arctic College. Born in Iqaluit and raised in Igloolik, Ms. Robinson is a strong Northern advocate, who is fluent in Inuktitut and English . She articled at Maliiganik Tukisiiniakvik, clerked with judges of the Nunavut Court of Justice under the Chief Justice at the time, Beverley Browne, and then became a Crown prosecutor who worked the circuit court in Nunavut for four years.
Ms. Robinson is presently an Associate with Borden Ladner Gervais LLP in Ottawa, Ontario, where she works on Team North, a multi-disciplinary team of 70 lawyers who do a variety of work for First Nation communities in the northern parts of central and western provinces and the territories. She has worked on a wide range of issues affecting Indigenous rights. Most recently, Ms. Robinson worked as legal counsel at the Specific Claims Tribunal, travelling to First Nations communities across Canada. In addition, Ms. Robinson is the Vice President of Tungasuvvingat Inuit, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing cultural and wellness programs to Inuit in Ottawa
Commissioner Brian Eyolfson
Acting Deputy Director, Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs, Legal Services
Couchiching First Nation, Ontario
Brian Eyolfson holds a B.Sc. in psychology, an LL.B from Queen's University and an LL.M, specializing in administrative law, from Osgoode Hall Law School.
Mr. Eyolfson was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1994 and has served as a Senior Staff Lawyer with Aboriginal Legal Services in Toronto and as Counsel to the Ontario Human Rights Commission. He was Counsel to Aboriginal Legal Services of Toronto at the Ipperwash Inquiry, and practiced human rights, Aboriginal and administrative law before a variety of tribunals and courts. He is a Vice Chair with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, where he adjudicated and mediated human rights applications, from 2007 to 2016. Mr. Eyolfson is currently acting as the Deputy Director in the Legal Services Branch of the Ontario Ministry of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation.