First MMIWG hearing illustrates need for more time, says Inuit body

Pauktuutit’s legal counsel, Beth Symes, with the organization’s political advisor Rose May Cooper, pictured at the MMIWG inquiry’s hearing venue in Whitehorse last week. (PHOTO COURTESY OF PAUKTUUTIT)

The federal inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls hosted its first hearing in Yukon last week, but commissioners already say they’ll need more time to hear from everyone who wants to share their story.

The commission hosted a three-day hearing May 30 to June 1 at the Kwanlin Dun Cultural Centre in Whitehorse where about 40 families had registered to speak.

Participants spoke about lost loved ones, the challenges navigating the justice system, the impacts of residential schools and unhealthy relationships.

“We need to do a lot of work on healing,” a woman told commissioners. “And hearing all these stories heals me.”

But the 90 minutes allotted to each speaker or family wasn’t long enough in some cases.

Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada president Rebecca Kudloo fell ill last week and was unable to attend the Whitehorse event, but Pauktuutit’s political advisor Rosemary Cooper and its legal council, Beth Symes, attended in her place.

“Since it was the first time, it was sort of like a test,” Kudloo said. “Obviously, there were some important lessons to take away.

“They soon found out you can’t rush people when they’re telling their stories.”

Kudloo said the commission was open and flexible about allowing people the time they needed—which she said bodes well for the inquiry’s future hearings, including visits to Inuit communities.

And Kudloo noted there was counselling available for participants, a key recommendation Pauktuutit had made to the inquiry from the start.

“In small communities, there are very few resources to deal with that,” she said. “We want to make sure [Inuit participants] aren’t harmed any further.”

Although Pauktuutit has been critical of the inquiry, Kudloo welcomed the beginning of the commission, nine months after it was first launched.

“The fact that it has started is good,” she said. “And that families were able to tell their stories without limited timing.”

“Although we still feel like the first year of this should have been a planning year.”

Pauktuutit, along with Inuit women’s organizations from Nunavik and Nunatsiavut and the Ottawa Inuit Children’s Centre, have been granted standing to represent Inuit as one organization over the course of the inquiry.

The two-year, $53 million commission is meant to run until mid-2018.

Kudloo will travel to Ottawa next week to meet with the inquiry and other national Indigenous organizations to debrief from the Whitehorse hearing.

That will be an opportunity to tell commissioners what they thought worked well and didn’t, she said, and to make some more specific requests for the commission ahead of any hearings it plans to host in Inuit communities.

The commission plans to host more hearings again in the fall.

Families and individuals who wish to get in touch with the commission can call toll-free 1-844-348-4119 or email Profile@mmiwg-ffada.ca with their name, contact information and location.

A national, toll-free crisis line is available to provide support to those who needs it, 24 hours a day, at 1-844-413-6649.

You can visit the inquiry’s Inuktitut web page here.