Murdered and missing Indigenous women: the north speaks

Therese Labbe.

Shelley Anderson.

Pamela Jayne Holopainen.

Those are the names of Indigenous women who have either died under suspicious circumstances, or vanished altogether in northeastern Ontario.

Hundreds more in the country have been murdered or have also gone missing.

For decades, there have been calls for the federal government to launch an inquiry into their disappearances.

That day came Wednesday, when the federal government announced that it would fund the investigation.

The inquiry is expected to look at the cause of violence against Indigenous women and girls and review the roles of police, agencies and governments.

After hearing the announcement, members of Sudbury's Indigenous community reacted:

'A lot of these girls are still missing'

Richard Ouellet, director of the Wabnode Centre for Aboriginal Services at Cambrian College said it is critical the government gets it right.

"Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised a lot of things for Indigenous people before he was elected," Ouellet said, "so it's important for this inquiry to live up to those promises."

Even with such high expectations, Ouellet remains hopeful.

"I think that this inquiry really can set the table where a new relationship can be formed because it will build trust through its transparency and that's sort of my hope for the future."

It is also important, Oullett said, that we don't relegate these cases to the past. The threat for Indigenous women is still high.

"Girls are brought into the sex trade from a northern pipeline that exists in reserves," he said, "a lot of these girls are still missing."

We need to address the weakness in the system

Anna Betty Achneepineskum, Deputy Grand Chief with the Nishnawbe Aski Nation said she wants systemic racism in the system investigated, and hopefully weeded out.

"What I haven't heard about is the systemic discrimination in the court system. I've worked many years in the court system. I've seen cases where a person, if accused [of taking]the life of an indigenous woman, or indigenous person,the court is lenient on these individuals," she said.

"Many times, the crown attorneys and other stakeholders, the services that they provide in terms of maintaining justice, that's what they're' supposed to do, it's not there, as to the full extent as anyone else."

We need to better understand the obstacles

In a statement from the Greater Sudbury Police, Chief Paul Pedersen said —

"The Greater Sudbury Police Service has been and will continue to work towards building a stronger relationship with our Indigenous community. Our service is committed to enhancing the safety and well-being of our Indigenous youth and women."

"The Greater Sudbury Police Service aims to bridge the communication gap between the service and our Indigenous community in order to better understand the obstacles we need to overcome to achieve collaborative partnerships based on mutual trust and respect," Pedersen said.

Most Indigenous women face racism on a day-to-day basis

Sheila Cote-Meek, associate vice president of academic and Indigenous programs at Laurentian University, said she wants to see concrete recommendations come out of the inquiry.

And although she's relieved to know that the federal government is launching the inquiry, she added that even nascent racism against Indigenous women is a form of violence.

"It doesn't matter if you grow up in Sudbury, if you grow up in northeastern Ontario or you grow up in some of these larger cities, on a day-to-day basis most Indigenous women can talk about different incidents and examples about racism that they face on a day-to-day basis," Cote-Meek said.