The problems accumulate in the investigation of missing and murdered aboriginal women

News 11 July, 2017

PHOTO BORIS PROULX
The minister of aboriginal Affairs and Northern development dr. Carolyn Bennett responded to questions from the journalists on Tuesday.

Boris Proulx

Tuesday, 11 July, 2017 13:58

UPDATE
Tuesday, 11 July, 2017 13:58

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Ottawa | another resignation in the team in charge of investigating violence against aboriginal women concerned communities.

“There are reasons to worry when you see [the number of] commissioners to melt in the sun”, reacts Mélissa Mollen-Dupuis, co-founder of the indigenous movement Idle No More Québec.

The commissioner of the Saskatchewan Marilyn Poitras decided on Tuesday to leave his post Tuesday in a national Survey of women and girls missing and murdered aboriginal (ENFFADA).

In her resignation letter, she wrote to the prime minister Justin Trudeau is “not able to accomplish [their] task in this structure”, suggesting that serious problems beset the organization.

This year, five other employees have left the investigation, including the director-general Michèle Moreau “for personal reasons” in July.

Trust

Even if this wave of resignations could worry the victims and their families, the community activist aboriginal Mélissa Mollen-Dupuis said that she “does not doubt” the ability of the Inquiry to do its work on the ground.

“You don’t want to lose the commission on the details,” she adds.

The minister of aboriginal Affairs and Northern development dr. Carolyn Bennett has also reiterated its confidence to the four commissioners remaining, and insisted on the fact that he is an “independent organization” of the government.

“I think that the concerns [in the face of these resignations] will improve [the Investigation], I hope, for a better communication with the victims,” summed up the minister.

She has no intention for now to change its calendar, and is still awaiting a preliminary report for November. The investigation must always spend a week in Quebec from November 27, Maliotenam, near Sept-Îles.

The commission was established by the Trudeau government at a cost of nearly$ 54 Million to find out why so many aboriginal women are murdered or are missing in Canada.