REGINA – Missing and murdered Aboriginal women are in the spotlight as a national roundtable of politicians and concerned community members wrapped up in Ottawa.
The issue is of particular importance for Saskatchewan as Indigenous women in Saskatchewan represent about 15 per cent of the province’s population, but half of female homicide victims.
Chasity Delorme has been calling for a inquiry into missing and murdered Aboriginal women, mainly from her fear for the safety of her two teenaged daughters.
“It frightens me,” said Delorme, student association president at the First Nations University of Canada. “A lot of these situations are not just because of the styles of living of individuals. Sometimes, it’s that they’re in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
RCMP say 90 per cent of Indigenous female murder victims know their killer.
Lani Elliott survived five years with an abusive husband and said educators need to teach children the signs of an unhealthy relationship.
“If we don’t do something about that now, those numbers are not going to get better,” said Elliott.
“We need to be collaborative. This isn’t an issue that’s just affecting Saskatchewan or any one province. It’s a pan-Canadian problem. They need to participate,” said Justice Minister Gordon Wyant on Wednesday prior to going to Ottawa.
Significant events over the past year have led to to Friday’s roundtable. Last May, a scathing United Nations report called the number of missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada a “disturbing phenomenon”. Then days later, the RCMP released its report showing a disproportionate number of women whose lives end in violence are Aboriginal.
Toronto and Winnipeg voiced their support for an inquiry at the end of the summer. The Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association voted in favour of an inquiry early February, followed by Regina city council this past week.
While Friday’s roundtable is being called a win by Aboriginal groups, solutions are far from concrete.
“At some point we need to stop talking about it and we need to start doing some action,” said Elliott. “If we had an inquiry, my question would be what happens after that?”