Missing, murdered indigenous women’s families still waiting on promised liaisons

Nearly six months after Ottawa promised millions of dollars to help the families of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls navigate the justice system, only Ontario is close to getting its program off the ground.

When the Liberal government unveiled the details of the national inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women last August, Justice Canada offered $11.7 million over three years to set up so-called family information liaison units inside provincial victim services departments.

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The units are meant to give grieving families somewhere to turn when they are seeking more details about their loved ones from police, prosecutors, coroners and child welfare services, as well as support for dealing with trauma.

The inquiry is expected to begin its hearings this spring, but across the country, the family information liaison units are still far from operational.

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Ontario, by contrast, has started putting together a team and hopes to open field offices in Sudbury, Thunder Bay and Sioux Lookout.

Other provinces are still designing their programs, waiting to hear back from Ottawa, or figuring out whether they need to open a unit at all.