NTI joins long list of supporters for inquiry into murdered Aboriginal women

Better late than never.

Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. announced June 10 that it has added its voice to a call for a national inquiry into missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls in Canada, just days after the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s final report made the same recommendation.

“An inquiry is a necessary and critical step in improving the way Canada treats Aboriginal women and crimes against Aboriginal women,” vice-president James Eetoolook said in a June 10 press release.

“We stand in solidarity with all the organizations and voices calling for an inquiry in order to find justice and address the underlying issues that cause Aboriginal women to be victimized at a far greater rate than non-Aboriginal women,” he said.

In March of 2014, federal justice minister Peter MacKay rejected the call for an inquiry into missing and murdered Aboriginal women in Canada.

Many southern First Nations organizations quickly denounced Ottawa’s decision and redoubled their efforts to push for an inquiry. After that, Inuit voices started trickling in.

NTI joins the Qulliit Nunavut Status of Women, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, Northern Quebec MP Romeo Saganash, the United Nations’ Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and many others who have demanded an inquest from the federal government.

The Government of Nunavut howeverhas not offered support for such a national examination into the heightened violence Aboriginal women face in this country.

At the end of February this year, in the absence of an inquiry, Aboriginal groups met with provincial and territorial leaders at a national roundtable to end violence against Indigenous women and girls in Canada.

In 2014, an RCMP report reported that 1,017 Aboriginal women had been murdered and another 164 had gone missing between 1980 and 2012.

The RCMP identified 20 female victims of homicide in Nunavut between 1980 and 2012.

“NTI recognizes there is violence in Nunavut communities,” Eetoolook said.

“We need support and resources to end the victimization of women and children,” he added.

“Responding to this unacceptable reality should be a priority for the Government of Nunavut and the Government of Canada.”