Leader denounces inquiry as a 'whitewash'

Despite being granted standing at the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry, which began Oct. 11 in Vancouver, the Assembly of First Nations announced it would not participate. Instead, the organization is demanding that the issue of missing and murdered women be addressed at the national and international levels.

The inquiry’s mandate is to examine what, if any, mistakes were made by police during their investigation leading up to the 2002 arrest of convicted serial killer Robert Willie Pickton, who preyed on women in the Downtown Eastside over many years. The public review was called on Sept. 27, 2010 and will focus on police conduct in respect to women reported missing from the Downtown Eastside between Jan. 23, 1997 and Feb. 5, 2002.

In the weeks leading up to the inquiry’s start, however, community and Aboriginal resource groups backed out of the hearing citing a lack of transparency on the part of the commission, headed by former BC attorney general Wally Oppal, and the refusal of the province to provide grassroots groups with the funds required to hire legal representation.

The AFN announced it would back out of the process as the hearing was set to begin. National Chief Shawn Atleo said he had hoped that there would be some opportunity for justice in the B.C. inquiry, but now he’s looking to other forums to focus attention on the issue of missing and murdered women in Canada.
“The principle objectives behind AFN’s participation from the beginning have been to support the families, to bring to light systemic issues that gave rise to these tragedies, and finally to identify efforts toward resolution of those issues,” said Atleo.

“We hoped the inquiry would shed light to uncover truths that could help with the healing process for the families, as well as to begin to point the way forward so that all women and the most vulnerable have access to justice. Without equity and balance, systemic issues will not be brought forward and will therefore not be reflected in the recommendations of the inquiry,” he said.

Calling the inquiry a “sham,” Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, said his organization was “absolutely elated” when the provincial government announced there would be a full public inquiry into the issue of missing and murdered women.
When funding for legal representation was denied community and Aboriginal groups, Phillip said the UBCIC was “bitterly disappointed in the short-sighted, shallow thinking of Premier (Christy) Clark and her government, which provided funding only to the families of the victims.

Gwen Brodsky, legal council for the Native Women’s Association of Canada [NWAC], said that although the group was granted full standing to the inquiry, they had to pull out due to lack of legal funds.

“It is the position of the NWAC that there is sexualized racism at work,” said Brodsky. “It is discrimination against Aboriginal women. To be excluded from an inquiry, the subject of which they are central to, the question arises: What is it that the government wants to hear?” she said.
“NWAC has been shut out because it is simply unable to participate without representation. It is completely unreasonable and impossible,” Brodsky said.

The AFN had pleaded with the province for a fairer, more inclusive inquiry, and in a Sept. 28th letter to the British Columbia premier, the organization requested a meeting of all parties to find a better way forward.

However, interim B.C. Attorney General, Shirley Bond, sent an unequivocal response indicating that such a meeting would not occur.

“Let me be clear,” Bond replied. “We will not be intervening in the work of the commission,” she said.
“The government has called this inquiry to determine what happened and how we can prevent tragedies like this in future,” she said. “We want to see this inquiry go ahead and we recognize how important its work is,” Bond wrote.

She said that budget challenges for the ministry had made the funding of legal counsel for the families of the murdered and missing women the priority.

Despite public outcry and a process boycott, the province remained hopeful that the inquiry would yield positive results.

“Lead commission counsel advised the ministry two weeks ago that the commission will be able to fulfill the mandate set for it despite the decision by participants with standing before the hearing commission to withdraw from the proceedings,” Bond stated.

But Aboriginal groups aren’t so optimistic.

“The families of the many murdered and missing women fought for this inquiry as an essential vehicle to uncover the truth behind their personal tragedies,” Jody Wilson-Raybould, AFN regional chief for British Columbia, said in a statement. “The current uneven configuration of the inquiry seriously limits, if not eliminates, the potential of the inquiry to achieve this most basic interest,” she concluded.

“In our view, this public inquiry has unraveled to the point where it is nothing more or nothing less than a complete whitewash,” said Phillip.

“We still believe that Commissioner Oppal, if he so chose, could seize this inquiry and adjourn it until such a time that voices are properly heard,” said Atleo.

“Aboriginal people make up only four per cent of the national population, but constitute over half of the victims in an issue like this,” he pointed out.

“The AFN will continue to pursue a national public inquiry. This is a national crisis and the chiefs in assembly have made it a national priority,” he said.

“We’ll stand with the families in expressing to the country that they want justice and we’ll stand with them until that is achieved,” he promised.