The national inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls is holding three days of hearings in Smithers, B.C.
Several witnesses offered moving, powerful testimony as the inquiry held its first day of hearings Tuesday.
The chief of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation in Burns Lake, Vivian Tom, brought many observers to tears as she spoke about the loss of her 21-year-old daughter.
Destiny Tom was killed by her common-law partner and Vivian Tom sobbed as she recalled a vision she had where she said goodbye to her daughter and apologized to the young woman who had to go through such tragedy alone.
Tom is raising her granddaughter and says the little girl was just three when her mother died — and was only six when she first talked about suicide as a solution to joining her mom.
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Before the hearings in Smithers began, the inquiry’s commissioners took part in various stages of a 350-kilometre journey along British Columbia’s Highway of Tears.
Dozens of women have disappeared or been killed along the highway between Prince Rupert and Prince George.
In recent months, the commission has faced questions from concerned relatives who say they have lost faith in the inquiry because it is not giving families enough of a voice.
The inquiry has seen a slew of departures, including former commissioner Marilyn Poitras who resigned in July, citing the inquiry’s “structure.”
The inquiry is expected to take two years and cost almost $54 million.
— With files from Global News reporter Monique Scotti
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