Hi everyone!
I know I haven’t posted for a while (as usual school’s been crazy busy, but I’ve only got two more midterms to get through, so yay for that).
Today I have a post that’s a little out of the ordinary from my usual short updates and school related ramblings, but is something very important to me.
With Justin Trudeau as our newly elected Prime Minister, like me, you’ve probably also been seeing a ton of news articles going around about the future of our country. Now, I’m not sure if this is because in this federal election I was finally old enough to vote (thumbs up to everyone who made sure to exercise their right to vote!) or maybe it has to do with the fact that I’m interested in pursuing First Nations and Indigenous Studies as a part of my undergrad degree, but I’ve been following Trudeau’s Liberals really closely since their election.
Because of this interest (both academically and personally) I’m going to follow along the progression of our new Liberal government and how they are going to approach major Indigenous issues, particularly Canada’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW), and I’ll be blogging about this today and following up as we (hopefully) see some significant action taken in the near future.
Under Harper’s leadership, our previous government had a clear lack of urgency towards the topic of our missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. In an interview with CBC’s Peter Mansbridge, Harper stated that the consideration of a formal inquiry “isn’t really high on our radar, to be honest”.
I guess that statement is something that baffles me most. Since 1980, there have been 1,181 reported missing or murdered Aboriginal women in Canada. And these are only the reported numbers. So for our Prime Minister at the time to say that this “isn’t high on our radar”, it really frustrates me (which is definitely an understatement).
BUT. To shed some hope on this issue, in a press conference held on October 21st, Prime Minister Trudeau addressed the MMIW saying “I believe that there is a need for a national public inquiry to bring justice for the victims, healing for the families, and to put an end to this tragedy”.
Trudeau on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (CBC)
The Liberal party’s Policy Resolution 110 vows to (within their first term as elected government) begin working on the issue of the MMIW, and they have resolved that they will work with Indigenous families, communities and organizations.
(http://www.liberal.ca/policy-resolutions/110-resolution-action-missing-murdered-indigenous-women/)
Even more recently, on November 5th, Carolyn Bennett, who was sworn in as Canada’s new Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs, made it clear that she will be quick to start her work on this issue, ensuring pre-consultation with families of victims to ensure prompt but not hasty action.
AND, Vancouver-Granville’s own MP, Jody Wilson-Raybould, who has been appointed as the Minister of Justice and Attorney general, is making me optimistic that Canadians will see action being taken. Why? First of all, she is a First Nations woman, not to mention she was regional chief of the BC Assembly of First Nations, and a Crown prosecutor. Jody Wilson-Raybould promises “true reconciliation” with Aboriginal peoples and I can’t see anything but sincerity in this comment.
From here on, we are looking at the Justin Trudeau’s government follow up on these statements, and what I hope for is that a national inquiry is a part of the “real change” that Trudeau has promised Canadians since his election.
And I (like many and hopefully all Canadians) want to see this change. I want to see taction taken that the Harper government was so irresponsibly complacent about, and I will be following up with these stories as they progress.
Please feel free to comment and let me know what you think about these massive governmental changes and the incredibly important issue of Canada’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women.
For more information on Canada’s MMIW:
http://www.amnesty.ca/blog/missing-and-murdered-indigenous-women-and-girls-understanding-the-numbers
http://www.cbc.ca/missingandmurdered/
**Disclaimer: This is a personal opinion piece (as well as part of a project for FNIS 100), and does not necessarily reflect upon UBC’s values