Commission on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women

The Government of Canada has announced the scope of its inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women. It has also said who will be the five commissioners leading the inquiry. On the surface it would appear that the inquiry's scope of investigation has been well thought out and it all likelihood will satisfy at least some of the people who demanded such an inquiry. The five commissioners are certainly well qualified and reflect most of the characteristics of the missing and murdered women including both gender and cultural/national roots. Not surprisingly however, the membership of the commission does not reflect the social class of the women whose stories are at the heart of the need for a commission. However, in spite of the well intentioned job description and the carefully chosen participants, one still needs to ask the question - why is there a need for a commission at all?

" Justin Trudeau said the "victims deserve justice, their families an opportunity to be heard and to heal" and that "we must work together to put an end to this ongoing tragedy." (CBC). I agree that it is important. It would be even more useful however, if there was a way for all Canadians to have to hear those messages, to listen to those stories. I am afraid that like so much of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's hearings and report - the vast majority of Canadians will blithely get on with their lives and pay little or no attention to this commission's work. For Canadians who have thought about this issue, have read, have listened and have talked about it - the issues are quite clear. Within a society that is sexists in nature, that is permeated with racism and that has intentionally or non-intentionally practiced cultural genocide for at least 200 hundred years - it can come as no surprise that the lives of Indigenous women have been deemed less important. We have known for a generation that our policing, our court system and our correctional system are woefully inadequate to correct the imbalances within our society. I remain unconvinced that another two years will do very much at all to change that.

CBC reported that Dawn Lavell-Harvard, the current president of NWAC (Native Women's Association of Canada) has said that "There's not going to be the commitment to make the changes we need if people don't see evidence,... And that kind of incontrovertible, independent evidence that can't be brushed off." She might be right but I don't think so. For so many of us the evidence is already clear - I do not need more proof, I don't need more evidence. For those who deny the truth, for those who live in their elite bubbles that protect them from the reality of other lives, for those who insist that the world is evolving just fine - stories are not going to change their minds.

I accept that people need to tell their stories and that for some to do so on a somewhat public national stage with be cathartic. We should encourage people to do so. But I would prefer it if a substantial portion of the 53 million dollars go to actually creating change. I would prefer that money was used to providing meaningful and accessible education so that Indigenous peoples - specifically young women had a choice as to how they spent their lives; I would prefer it if some of that money was used to fund a different way (other than incarceration) of supporting people when there was conflict within their community or within their family, I would prefer if there was a rural transportation system to ensure that people don't need to hitchhike, I would prefer if small communities had better access to health care (including mental health), clean water and decent housing. But most of all I wish that the funding be available to help the communities decide what they needed and wanted to do.

I am glad that the commission is finally underway. I truly hope that it meets the needs of people and that the recommendations that come out of it are looked at and implemented. But most of all I hope that we do not have to wait two years for changes start to happen. We know what we have to do - lets get on with it.