National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls

Two years after the release of the Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, the Federal government has finally revealed its action plan to address the inquiry’s 231 calls for justice.

While broad and ambiguous initiatives to combat systemic racism within the justice system are identified, there is no clear mechanism brought forward to address the under investigation of cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, and to hold police services accountable for their inaction, as stated in calls for justice 9.5 and 9.6 of the inquiry’s report.

This is particularly problematic as investigations into gender-based violence perpetrated against Indigenous women and girls are often left on the back burner, despite them being 12x more likely to be murdered or missing than their non-Indigenous counterparts.

As such, it is imperative that the Federal government respond to the National Inquiry’s calls for justice by implementing standardized investigation protocols within police services to address the under investigation of cases involving Indigenous women and girls and establishing an independent investigative unit to ensure police accountability for incidents of failure to investigate, police misconduct, and all other discriminatory practices and mistreatment of Indigenous Peoples.

See National Inquiry’s Calls for Action at: https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Final_Report_Vol_1b.pdf

See Federal Action Plan at: https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/DAM/DAM-CIRNAC-RCAANC/DAM-RECN/STAGING/texte-text/fed_patway_mmiwg_2slgbtqqia_1622728066545_eng.pdf