Watch above: Saskatchewan leaders react, with others from across the country, after a national roundtable discussion focused on missing and murdered aboriginal women in Canada. Wendy Winiewski reports.
SASKATOON – Canada’s first national roundtable on missing and murdered indigenous women took place in Ottawa Friday. Considered a big step toward a national inquiry, local advocacy groups are thrilled but are tempering that with the knowledge there won’t be immediate results.
In 1992, Saskatchewan resident Shelley Napope, 16, was murdered by John Martin Crawford, a man she never knew.
“She was killed out in a field,” said Darlene Okemaysim-Sicotte, with the Iskwewuk E-wichiwitochik coalition in Saskatoon.
The crime has haunted Okemaysim-Sicotte, Napope’s cousin, for the past decade. She has been rallying for solutions to the nationwide trend of missing and murdered indigenous women.
“Absolutely today is a positive sign,” said Okemaysim-Sicotte.
READ MORE: Disappointment following round table on missing and murdered women
There was a historic roundtable in Ottawa with family members, aboriginal leaders and provincial government representatives. In attendance, federal ministers Bernard Valcourt and Kellie Leitch despite the prime minister saying his government will not launch an inquiry.
“As part of our discussions today, we agreed to meet again to discuss progress made and results achieved,” said Leitch, federal status of women minister.
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However, it wasn’t the result the chief of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) hoped for.
“This is a step – we’re still moving towards the call for a federal inquiry – we’re still moving towards this,” said AFN Chief Perry Bellegarde.
The AFN is pleased with the suggestion to possibly hold a royal commission.
Okemaysim-Sicotte watched the discussion over the internet.
“It’s probably not going to be the outcome that people are envisioning at this particular point,” she said.
For advocates, it’s a step toward a solution nationally and here at home where aboriginal people make up 16 per cent of the provincial population.
According to the Saskatchewan Association of Chiefs of Police, 33 females have gone missing in the province between 1940 and 2014. Eighteen of them are of aboriginal decent.
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