Minister of the Status of Women Patty Hajdu returned home from a cross-Canada tour over the weekend with a clear focus on parameters for the promised national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women.
After meeting with 4,000 Indigenous people whose lives have been impacted and receiving nearly as many submissions online, Hajdu is satisfied the eight-session tour has given the three responsible ministers the information they need to make recommendations to cabinet.
“Some concerns really became clear as we listened to families across the country,” she said.
“We started to see some themes emerge in terms of commonalities and certainly gave us a lens in which to suggest some terms.”
Hajdu said despite regional differences, policing issues and complications where ministries could have cooperated better were among the most common concerns.
“We really heard about the intersection of child protection services and how that, in some cases, contributed to a woman or child being at risk but also the stories of orphans left behind across the country by the murder of their mother,” she said.
“There were lots of stories around police interactions and whether or not people felt police were helpful. Sometimes we did hear good stories. Oftentimes, we heard stories that interactions with police were unsatisfactory.”
Hajdu, Minister of Justice Jody Wilson-Raybould and Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Carolyn Bennett have consulted legal professionals on their findings, which will form the inquiry’s parameters.
A second round of consultations will follow once those recommendations are delivered to cabinet.
The majority Liberals promised the inquiry into over 1,200 murdered and missing indigenous women in their October election platform.
