On Tuesday (August 2), the federal government released the terms of reference for the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. The government also released the names of the five inquiry commissioners, including two UVic Alumni, the Honourable Marion Buller (B.A. 1975; LLB 1987) who will serve as Chief Commissioner, and Quajaq Robinson (LLB 2005). The other three Commissioners are:
- Michèle Audette
- Marilyn Poitras
- Brian Eyolfson
The terms of reference, in part, call on the Commissioners to:
Inquire into and to report on:
- systemic causes of all forms of violence — including sexual violence — against Indigenous women and girls in Canada, including underlying social, economic, cultural, institutional and historical causes contributing to the ongoing violence and particular vulnerabilities of Indigenous women and girls in Canada, and
- institutional policies and practices implemented in response to violence experienced by Indigenous women and girls in Canada, including the identification and examination of practices that have been effective in reducing violence and increasing safety.
Make recommendations on:
- concrete and effective action that can be taken to remove systemic causes of violence and to increase the safety of Indigenous women and girls in Canada, and
- ways to honour and commemorate the missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada.
Read the full Terms of Reference here.
For more background information see the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls website and the several research, studies and reports that the Commissioners are referred to in the Terms of Reference:
- Final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (2015). E96.5 T78 2015; [Electronic]
- Report of the inquiry concerning Canada of the Committee of the Elimination of Discrimination against Women under article 8 of the optional protocol to the Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women / United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (2015) [Electronic]
- Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women in British Columbia, Canada / Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (2014). [Electronic]
- Missing and murdered Aboriginal women : a national operational overview / Royal Canadian Mounted Police (2014). [Electronic]
- Invisible women : a call to action : a report on missing and murdered indigenous women in Canada : report of the Special Committee on Violence Against Indigenous Women / Stella Ambler, chair (2014). [Electronic]
- Forsaken : the report of the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry / Oppal Commission, British Columbia (2012). [Electronic]
- What their stories tell us : research findings from the Sisters in Spirit initiative / Native Women’s Association of Canada (2010). [Electronic]
- Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. KF8205 A3384 1996