National Indigenous women groups call for Inuk rep on MMIWG inquiry

Marion Buller, named chair of the commission overseeing the inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, is flanked by fellow commissioners Aug. 3 following the formal announcement of the inquiry in Gatineau, Que. (PHOTO COURTESY OF GOV. OF CANADA)

As Indigenous groups welcomed the launch of a National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, calls grew louder for Inuit representation on its five-member commission.

The federal government formally announced the inquiry Aug. 3 at a morning news conference in Gatineau, Que., naming the inquiry’s five commissioners, led by chair Marion Buller, a British Columbia-based First Nations judge.

The four other commissioners are former Quebec Native Women’s Association president Michèle Audette, Saskatchewan Métis lawyer Marilyn Poitras, Ontario First Nations lawyer Brian Eyolfson and Nunavut-raised lawyer Qajaq Robinson.

While Robinson speaks fluent Inuktitut, she is not Inuk — and that remains a major sticking point for some stakeholders in the long-awaited inquiry.

The country’s two other Indigenous women’s groups — the Native Women’s Association of Canada and Women of the Métis Nation — both lent their voices Aug. 3 to a call by Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada for an Inuk commissioner.

“We’re grateful they’ve supported us,” said Pauktuutit president Rebecca Kudloo at an Aug. 3 news conference following the inquiry announcement.

“We’re a distinct people; we have our own distinct culture… and they understand that.”

Weeks before the inquiry launch, Pauktuutit made public its concerns about the lack of Inuit representation on the commission — one of the major recommendations to the group made to the federal government in pre-inquiry consultations.

Since then, Pauktuutit has asked the department of Indigenous and Northern Affairs to appoint a sixth, Inuk commissioner, a demand Kudloo said has gone unanswered.

Pauktuutit’s executive said they were told by the department that the recommendation had been fulfilled by appointing an Inuktitut-speaking commissioner.

But Kudloo said the issues and trauma Inuit have faced in recent generations — residential school, relocation and food insecurity, to name a few — are issues “only an Inuk can understand.”

“It’s very difficult because, once again, we’re not being heard by the government,” Kudloo said Aug. 3.

The Government of Nunavut weighed in on the inquiry Aug. 3 in a carefully-worded statement that offered its cooperation with the federal inquiry, while chiding Ottawa on its choice of representative.

“We know that preventing family violence is critical to ensuring the safety of Nunavummiut at home,” said the Nunavut minister responsible for the Status of Women, Monica Ell-Kanayuk and the Nunavut minister of justice, Keith Peterson, in the joint statement.

“The appointment of a northerner to the commission is encouraging,” said the ministers.

“However, this is a deeply sensitive issue, and Inuk representation on the commission would have provided balance to directly reflect the culture and experiences of our communities.”

Other Inuit say they support Robinson’s appointment, noting the lawyer’s extensive experience in Nunavut and with Inuit issues.

While Robinson is currently associated with Ottawa-based Borden Ladner Gervais, she grew up in both Igloolik and Iqaluit and worked as a Crown prosecutor in Nunavut four years.

Concerns aside, Pauktuutit has said the organization is prepared to work with Robinson, although they have yet to get a chance to sit down with her.

Kudloo said the organization is still waiting to confirm other details of the inquiry process, including elders groups and Inuktut-language support for Inuit families who take part.

“When you’re dealing with past hurts… it’s very important they you’re counselled in your own language, in your own dialect,” Kudloo said.

“[Throughout Inuit Nunangat] there are very few resources in those small communities,” she said. “We want to be full participants as Inuit from the beginning to the end.”