MLA takes Nunavut to task for opposing national MMIW inquiry

Tununiq MLA Joe Enook said March 2 in the legislative assembly that in not supporting calls for an inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal woman, Nunavut may be “abandoning our fellow aboriginal people.” (FILE PHOTO)

The Nunavut government’s opposition to a national inquiry on missing and murdered indigenous women is “unfortunate,” Tununiq MLA Joe Enook said March 2 in the legislative assembly.

“We seem to be abandoning our fellow aboriginal people because we don’t have many missing women in Nunavut. It is an unfortunate position to take,” Enook said in a question aimed at Jeannie Ugyuk, the minister responsible for the status of women.

In a statement earlier that afternoon, Ugyuk said keeping indigenous women and girls safety is a “shared national responsibility.”

And she also said the Nunavut government is committed to the framework that governments and indigenous representatives agreed to at the first-ever national roundtable held on Feb. 27.

But she did not say whether Nunavut supports a national inquiry, a demand made by numerous Aboriginal organizations, federal opposition parties and some non-Aboriginal public governments.

To that end, Enook asked Ugyuk to state the Nunavut government’s position on a national inquiry.

Ugyuk replied by saying that Nunavut prefers to seek funding to “heal our families” and “support families” and that, “we don’t have many missing women, although women have been murdered in Nunavut.”

She also said a national inquiry would cost too much.

“With respect to the national inquest or inquiry, it will cost an exorbitant amount to hold that inquest [sic] and we are looking at ways to resolve our social issues through other avenues,” Ugyuk said.

In an answer to a follow-up question from Enook, she repeated that Nunavut does not suffer from large numbers of missing and murdered women.

“In Nunavut, we aren’t searching for a multitude of missing women and that is what I was trying to get across. Women in Nunavut have been murdered. However, we are fortunate not to have many missing women,” she said.

There was no mention made of Nunavut women who leave the territory and go missing in urban centres such as Ottawa or Winnipeg.

In his last question, Enook took exception to Ugyuk’s description of the GN position on the MMIW issue, saying the territorial government is out of step with aboriginal people across the country.

“That is unfortunate…,” Enook said.

Ugyuk replied that Nunavut will seek funding from the federal government to reduce family violence.

“One of our priorities here in Nunavut is to quell the violence between spouses, with territorial numbers way above the national average, as we well know,” Ugyuk said.