Nunavummiut in Iqaluit to rally for murdered, missing Aboriginal women

Nunavummiut are invited to come to Iqaluit’s Four Corners at noon on April 2. Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory is encouraging people to bring Inuit women’s symbols as a sign of support and pride for Indigenous women. (PHOTO BY JANE GEORGE)

Iqalungmiut are planning an April 2 rally to demand justice for Cindy Gladue, a Cree woman who died in 2011, and a national inquiry into missing and murdered Aboriginal women.

Gladue, a sex worker, was found dead in the bathtub of an Edmonton hotel room in June 2011 where she had bled to death from a severe wound in her vagina.

The man who stood trial for her murder, Bradley Barton, was acquitted March 18. His lawyers argued the wound was caused by consensual rough sex.

But that verdict has prompted calls for an appeal and sparked anger among many Canadians and Aboriginal groups — particularly those calling for a national inquiry into cases of murdered and missing Indigenous women across the country.

Iqaluit’s Lakkuluk Williamson Bathory has helped to coordinate a rally that starts at noon April 2. Iqalungmiut are invited to attend to show their support for Cindy Gladue, while asking the federal government to launch a national inquiry into cases like hers.

Williamson Bathory encouraged people to bring Inuit women’s symbols and a sign of support and pride for Indigenous women.

Gladue’s case has hit a nerve with many people in the community, Williamson Bathory said, given how long the case went on, how Gladue’s body parts were used as evidence in the court room, and how her accused killer walked free.

“What kind of message does that send?” Williamson Bathory said.

“It’s important for people in Nunavut to show solidarity with Indigenous women, and to show respect for Cindy Gladue and her family.”

It’s equally important that the rally send a message to Nunavut’s leadership that it has a role to play in finding justice for women who have been abused, she added — through the support for a national inquiry.

“We live in an environment where there is so much violence and suicide,” Williamson Bathory said. “Any initiative that shows an openness to promoting safety, respect and diversity is important.”

During the last sitting of the legislative assembly, the Nunavut government made clear that it would rather fund family support or healing activities than see an inquiry.

“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,” said Jeannie Ugyuk, the minister responsible for the status of women, March 2.

A report prepared by the RCMP in 2014 revealed that at least 1,181 Indigenous women were murdered and missing in Canada between 1980 and 2012.

The RCMP is now preparing to release an updated version of that report this spring.

At a closed door meeting with Aboriginal leaders in Calgary last month, federal Aboriginal affairs minister Bernard Valcourt is reported to have said that the new report shows that up to 70 per cent of the murdered and missing women issue “stems from their own communities.”

Valcourt’s office said Apr. 1 that it won’t disclose specifics of the closed door meeting, but that it “encourages the RCMP to release this information.”

But Valcourt’s comment has garnered criticism from many Aboriginal groups who question whether the government intends to use that statistic to absolve itself of responsibility.

“That’s exactly what the inquiry is supposed to do — find out what’s happening to these women,” Williamson Bathory said. “Something terrible is happening. Regardless of who is perpetrating it, we need to find out why.”