THUNDER BAY – The scheduled Thunder Bay hearing for the national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls has been pushed back three months.
An updated schedule of upcoming inquiry hearings was released and the Thunder Bay date, which was most recently slated to take place in September, has been pushed back to the week of Dec. 4.
The inquiry has been besieged by a number of key resignations over the past number of months, with one of the commissioners and the executive director stepping aside recently.
Patty Hajdu, now the minister of employment, workforce development and labour, had been involved as one of the three ministers largely responsible for the creation of the inquiry when she held her previous portfolio as minister of the status of women.
While Hajdu pointed out the inquiry commissioners are operating at arm’s length from the government, she said Indigenous and Northern Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett would intervene if the process were to be stalled.
“Right now, we have confidence they are going to get over the hurdles they’re facing and they will continue to lead forward,” Hajdu said on Thursday. “We’ll watch and wait and see what Indigenous communities have to say about whether or not they can access those hearings. I’m certain the inquiry will look at those challenges.”
In a statement released Thursday, inquiry officials said the hearing dates for Thunder Bay, Saskatoon and Rankin Inlet, Nunavut were rescheduled based on advice received from the communities.
The Ontario Native Women’s Association last week withdrew their support for the inquiry, stating the organization could not back the process in its current format and approach.
Executive director Cora-Lee McGuire-Cyrette said the inquiry needs a reset.
Along with a lack of communication from inquiry officials, McGuire-Cyrette said the decision to hold their meetings starting in Thunder Bay was a concern.
“Thunder Bay is in a mode of crisis and is definitely not the first place to kick off your inquiry,” McGuire-Cyrette said last week. “We’re worried about people being triggered. When people are triggered they participate in high-risk behaviours and I don’t think Thunder Bay needs any more of it right now.”
Regional advisory meetings, including one scheduled for Thunder Bay in April, had previously been cancelled.
