Indigenous women in Atlantic Canada say they have mixed feelings about whether the final report of the inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG) will result in tangible change.
The 1,200-page document, unveiled in Gatineau, Que., on Monday, contains 231 “calls for justice” aimed at ending what its authors call “genocide” and a crisis that was “centuries in the making.”
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It’s a difficult report to digest for MMIWG families, but harder still is the possibility that after years of heartbreak and gruelling testimony, little will come out of it – at least in the near future.
“I think it’s important for government and non-Indigenous governments and communities to listen to Indigenous people when we say, ‘This is what we need’… And they don’t try to fit it in some political rubric or pre-existing framework,” said Rebecca Thomas, a Mi’kmaw activist and former Halifax poet laureate.
It’s been more than three years since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission issued its 94 calls to action, she explained, few of which have been fully implemented.
Many fear that the MMIWG report will receive similar attention.
“With this report, I think it’s good that the knowledge is out there, people will hopefully learn. However, as for tangible actions and results, I think that might be further out than we would like,” said Thomas.
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Indigenous women from across Atlantic Canada say they want to see Canadians own the report and accept its findings as part of their heritage and their responsibility moving forward.
“It would have been nice to see our premiers here today. And I think that’s a piece we need to do and work on in Nova Scotia is make sure the province of Nova Scotia and the provincial government know that this is their inquiry too,” said Cheryl Maloney, a human rights activist from the Sipekne’katik First Nation.
“It’s not just Indigenous women, it belongs to the province and the federal governments and our communities.”
The calls to justice made several recommendations for sectors like education, health and policing.
Amanda LeBlanc, interim chief and president of the New Brunswick Aboriginal Peoples Council, said she hopes to see more support for those who’ve been affected by violence and intergenerational trauma.
“I’m really hoping that more supports are available to the families as a result of this inquiry, because that’s a piece that’s been missing for many people,” she said.
“They have not had the supports to be able to move on.”
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The Nova Scotia and New Brunswick governments have said they will review the report closely before developing a plan of action.
But Kelly Regan, the minister responsible for the Advisory Council on the Status of Women, promises that the inquiry’s report will not gather dust.
“It’s a whole of government response so we’ll take some time to better understand what’s in the report and what steps we can take to meet those recommendations,” Regan said.
With files from Megan Yamoah