MMIWG inquiry recommendations' effect in Saskatchewan uncertain

Shirley Wilson and many others in Saskatchewan are waiting for the province to take action on the recommendations from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG).

Wilson travelled to Gatineau, Que. for Monday's closing ceremony, where the inquiry's final report was presented.

Wilson, whose 18-year-old daughter Wannitta Wolfe was shot dead in Regina in 1999, was one of the many family members of victimswho presented their stories to the inquiry, which collected more than 1,000 hours of testimony en route to creating the final 231 recommendations.

"When I tell my story, it's a way of releasing some of my hurt," said Wilson. "I'm around people who have felt the same pain I have felt and I am feeling. Just having that support, just knowing that in itself, helps."

Wolfe's killer was sentenced to seven years in prison but served two.

"What is that? That's a slap on the wrist," said Wilson. "Meanwhile, we as a family, it's been two years but it doesn't get any easier."

The report recommends an amendment to the Criminal Code for violent offences under whichthe victim being an Aboriginal woman would be considered to be an aggravating circumstance. Also, if there is a pattern of intimate partner violence and abuse, that would be classified as first-degree murder.

Policing recommendations

Another recommendation from the report is a national task force to review and reopen unresolved cases.

Regina Police Chief Evan Bray said he accepts the report and would be willing to hand files over if it wouldn't compromise an ongoing investigation.

He said the service will work to implement changes based on the recommendations.

"I absolutely acknowledge that our police service along with every police service in Canada has had a role to play in where we are today and I think it's as important that we recognize the role that we have and will be playing going forward," Bray said.

Bray said he is working on recruiting members that represent the community as a whole.

That's in line with a recommendation for more Indigenous women and LGBT people on police forces.

FSIN Chief Bobby Cameron said he met with the Minister of Justice David Lametti in Ottawa last week and encouraged him to move quickly on implementing recommendations.

"This inquiry only rubber-stamped what many of us felt right across the country, that the justice system has to change to reflect all cultures, all religions," said Cameron. "I mean, it's only fair that any ethnic group or any race be treated fairly within the justice system."

Saskatchewan's Minister of Justice Don Morgan said he'll be waiting on the National Action plan.He saidhe wants the province to focus on getting support to families after violent crimes happen.

Morgan said improvements can still be made to the province's police services and courts, through improved training, and to the coroner's office, via its new family liaison unit.

Morgan said he wants to make sure families have a point of contact. He said the goal is "trying to make sure that we reach out to those people in the most caring and compassionate way as they go through what is no doubt one of the most difficult and trying times of their lives."

The definition of genocide

Marion Buller, the chief commissioner for the National Inquiry, said it was an "inescapable conclusion" that genocide was committed against Canada's Indigenous peoples.

The inquiry based the classification partly on the UN's 1948 definition of genocide that refers to acts with "intent to destroy in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group."

Despite calls from some in the crowd for him to say the word "genocide" on Monday, Trudeau did not.

On Tuesday Trudeau told a crowd in B.C.hisgovernment accepts that themurders and disappearances of Indigenous women and girls across Canada in recent decades amountto an act of "genocide."

When asked, Bray said he agreed that genocide was committed against Indigenous people throughout Canadian history.

"We have to recognize that the challenges, the problems, the deficiencies that have occurred throughout Canadian history, have absolutely resulted in a loss of culture, in a loss of identity," said Bray. "If you look at the definition of genocide, it can be interpreted in many different ways, but I would say yes it fits into that."

Morgan did not refer to it as a genocide.

"We understand the tragedies that these people have faced and we want to offer our supports and work with them. I don't think we would want to make a comment on the semantics," Morgan said.

"I respect the perspective and understand where they're coming from and and their desire to draw attention to some horrific situations and we want to work to try and work through those."

'Some place for families to meet'

One of nine recommendations suggested by the Saskatchewan Aboriginal Women's Circle Corporation was the introduction of resilience centres.

Wilson said the centres would offer a range of support services for families and survivors left behind when a loved one is missing or murdered.

She said those services would include counsellors and elders to talk to after tragedy has struck. She said she would also like to see addiction services and legal advice to be available at the centres.

Wilson said they would also be a gathering place.

"The Resilience Centreshould have some place for families to meet," said Wilson. "That would have maybe a centre for women to get together and just do whatever they need to have those relationships in place."