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Families Urge MMIW Inquiry to Continue to Listen to Their Stories

Monday, 5 June 2017 12:21

Families of missing, murdered indigenous women share hopes for future of inquiry

WHITEHORSE-Relatives of missing and murdered indigenous women in Whitehorse say the national inquiry must keep listening and adapting to families' concerns as it prepares to move on to other communities.

The inquiry's first family hearings wrapped in Yukon last week and Chief Commissioner Marion Buller says staff will spend the summer preparing for the next hearings in the fall.

She says future hearings could be different, depending on the needs of the community, and it takes time to develop relationships with families, elders, traditional healers and support people in each location.

Shaun LaDue was among the family members who testified in Whitehorse and he says when the commissioners first came to the community for an advisory meeting in April they were doing too much talking and not enough listening.

He says after he confronted them with the criticism they thanked him and adapted, and he believes other communities will be pleasantly surprised when they discover the commissioners are responsive to their concerns.

Doris Anderson of the Yukon Aboriginal Women's Council says the commission needs to meet first with local grassroots groups because they are the ones that have built trust with families.

(The Canadian Press)

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