By:Bill Lee
There are a lot of pretty severe stains on the Canadian landscape in relation to the state's relationship with Indigenous people (i.e., that is it has been and is one of colonizer to colonized) but one that has gained particular notoriety recently is the large numbers (well over 600) of missing and murdered Indigenous women. The issue first came into real focus when Willy Pickton was arrested and charged in Vancouver for murdering a number of women, most of whom were sex workers and Indigenous. It became obvious that police didn't take all the missing person reports seriously and after some lobbying a provincial enquiry was held. Subsequently, it became clear that the Vancouver situation was not atypical, all across Canada Indigenous women have been reported missing or found murdered with little police interest. In an article in the Toronto Star of March 15• Alex Boutilier notes that, "Statistics Canada data has shown aboriginal women are at least twice as likely to suffer domestic violence than other Canadian women, and the report notes aboriginal women are much more likely than other women to be attacked by strangers. In all, aboriginal women are three times more likely to become the target of violence than non-aboriginal women, according to the government’s data." So, the call has gone out, both in Indigenous and mainstream communities for a national inquiry. Seems like a no brainer, we need to get a sense of what went wrong that so many women of Indigenous background could be dealt with so shabbily. Not everyone agrees however.
For example a friend of mine and fellow blogger Barb Nahwegabhow pointed me to an article by Andrea Landry, "Why We Don’t Need a Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women’s Inquiry" in the on-line publication, Last Real Indian• that raises lots of good counter arguments, but I think two will suffice to indicate the strength of her case. One point she makes is that an inquiry will not in fact make any difference, the one in BC has a list of recommendations that were either just bromides or they were ignored. Another assertion is that we know what the problem is, Indigenous women have been forced into sex work, where they have become completely marginalized, at risk for all manor of male violence. The money that would be spent on an inquiry could be much better spent on dealing with the root causes of the tragedy, by discrimination and poverty. I find her arguments compelling. Inquires and Royal commissions seem to frequently make a lot of sound and fury but end up bringing very little real change. One reason for this is that any inquiry called by the Conservatives will be given its marching orders by the government, the potential for discussion of fundamental issues is likely slim to nil.
Yet there is one aspect of all the discussion that makes me wonder. It appears to me rather ironic that Stephen Harper also maintains that a inquiry is not needed. Obviously he puts forward different rationales; he and his yes guy, Justice Minister Peter McKay are stoutly maintaining that the Conservative is indeed concerned and has developed all sorts of efforts (I believe they say there are forty separate initiatives) to deal with the situation. They seem to be striving mightily to block any kind of Federal inquiry. If one is called it looks like it will be really against the will of the number one colonialist actor in Canada at the moment, the Conservative Party of Canada. So, I keep wondering what Harper is afraid of in a public inquiry? I suppose that it is possible that since he is a penny pinching sort he doesn't want to see money spent. As well, clearly he is no friend of either women in general and Indigenous women in particular so he may simply see this as wasting time and money on one of the groups who will never be voting Conservative and whose issues he would prefer to be kept as much as possible out of the public eye. And of course there is the fact that the RCMP, the force so often implicated in the ignoring of the victims is part of his law and order agenda. They may be seen as allies or potential allies so he may not wish to be seen as putting them on any kind of hot seat. These last two possible reasons for his refusal to consider an inquiry seem to me to make the most sense. As a federal election is coming up in 2015 I can't see how he would welcome the publicity given to the issue of Mussing and murdered Indigenous women or to more exposure of the nasty underbelly of the RCMP. I'm not sure if these are sufficient reason to support an inquiry but they do make me wonder.
There are a lot of pretty severe stains on the Canadian landscape in relation to the state's relationship with Indigenous people (i.e., that is it has been and is one of colonizer to colonized) but one that has gained particular notoriety recently is the large numbers (well over 600) of missing and murdered Indigenous women. The issue first came into real focus when Willy Pickton was arrested and charged in Vancouver for murdering a number of women, most of whom were sex workers and Indigenous. It became obvious that police didn't take all the missing person reports seriously and after some lobbying a provincial enquiry was held. Subsequently, it became clear that the Vancouver situation was not atypical, all across Canada Indigenous women have been reported missing or found murdered with little police interest. In an article in the Toronto Star of March 15• Alex Boutilier notes that, "Statistics Canada data has shown aboriginal women are at least twice as likely to suffer domestic violence than other Canadian women, and the report notes aboriginal women are much more likely than other women to be attacked by strangers. In all, aboriginal women are three times more likely to become the target of violence than non-aboriginal women, according to the government’s data." So, the call has gone out, both in Indigenous and mainstream communities for a national inquiry. Seems like a no brainer, we need to get a sense of what went wrong that so many women of Indigenous background could be dealt with so shabbily. Not everyone agrees however.
For example a friend of mine and fellow blogger Barb Nahwegabhow pointed me to an article by Andrea Landry, "Why We Don’t Need a Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women’s Inquiry" in the on-line publication, Last Real Indian• that raises lots of good counter arguments, but I think two will suffice to indicate the strength of her case. One point she makes is that an inquiry will not in fact make any difference, the one in BC has a list of recommendations that were either just bromides or they were ignored. Another assertion is that we know what the problem is, Indigenous women have been forced into sex work, where they have become completely marginalized, at risk for all manor of male violence. The money that would be spent on an inquiry could be much better spent on dealing with the root causes of the tragedy, by discrimination and poverty. I find her arguments compelling. Inquires and Royal commissions seem to frequently make a lot of sound and fury but end up bringing very little real change. One reason for this is that any inquiry called by the Conservatives will be given its marching orders by the government, the potential for discussion of fundamental issues is likely slim to nil.
Yet there is one aspect of all the discussion that makes me wonder. It appears to me rather ironic that Stephen Harper also maintains that a inquiry is not needed. Obviously he puts forward different rationales; he and his yes guy, Justice Minister Peter McKay are stoutly maintaining that the Conservative is indeed concerned and has developed all sorts of efforts (I believe they say there are forty separate initiatives) to deal with the situation. They seem to be striving mightily to block any kind of Federal inquiry. If one is called it looks like it will be really against the will of the number one colonialist actor in Canada at the moment, the Conservative Party of Canada. So, I keep wondering what Harper is afraid of in a public inquiry? I suppose that it is possible that since he is a penny pinching sort he doesn't want to see money spent. As well, clearly he is no friend of either women in general and Indigenous women in particular so he may simply see this as wasting time and money on one of the groups who will never be voting Conservative and whose issues he would prefer to be kept as much as possible out of the public eye. And of course there is the fact that the RCMP, the force so often implicated in the ignoring of the victims is part of his law and order agenda. They may be seen as allies or potential allies so he may not wish to be seen as putting them on any kind of hot seat. These last two possible reasons for his refusal to consider an inquiry seem to me to make the most sense. As a federal election is coming up in 2015 I can't see how he would welcome the publicity given to the issue of Mussing and murdered Indigenous women or to more exposure of the nasty underbelly of the RCMP. I'm not sure if these are sufficient reason to support an inquiry but they do make me wonder.
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