An Open letter to Prime Minister Harper:
Why should Canada have an inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women? Somewhere in the deep dark history of this nation, the First Peoples of this land were relegated to the status of tenants as white European interlopers usurped their indigeneity. We can see the resounding echoes of that crime reflected in how non-native society interacts with the First Peoples of Canada. The marginalization and belittling legislative attacks on hearts, minds and souls of aboriginal peoples continues unabated here in Canada.
Over the past year, calls for an inquiry into missing and murdered Native women have increased. Commenting at the time of the murder of 15 year old Tina Fontaine, you said that your government was already addressing the issue. "We should not view this crime as a sociological phenomenon. We should view it as a crime." One of your government spokesmen further elaborated, "The government has already addressed the problem of the missing and murdered women with more than 30 criminal justice and public safety initiatives including tougher sentences for murder, sexual assault, and kidnapping."
This begs the question: Are these individual crimes? Or is this trend indicative of a deeper issue, a malevolent leaning endemic in the fabric of Canadian society?
A recent McLean's article stated the following. "An Aboriginal girl born in Canada today will die up to 10 years earlier than the national average. She is more likely to live in a crowded home without access to clean running water. She is more likely to be sexually or physically abused, and stands a far greater chance of becoming addicted to tobacco, alcohol and drugs. She is more prone to a host of life-threatening ailments like diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Worse yet, as a recent RCMP report showed, she is five times more likely than her non-Aboriginal counterpart to meet a violent end at the hands of another."
If one of my daughters was to fall victim to the rapacity of a deviant, a murderer, that would be seen as another crime to be solved, horrible that it might be. However, "In 1984, Aboriginal women accounted for eight per cent of all female homicide victims in Canada. Today, some 23 per cent of female murder victims are Aboriginal." Between 1997 and 2000, homicide rates of Aboriginal females were almost seven times higher than those of non-Aboriginal females.
This wrong is further exacerbated by the clearance rate of murder cases. The RCMP reports a clearance rate of about 90% for murder cases across Canada. For Native women, this rate drops to 53%. Statistics are cold and impersonal. The agony and grief of losing a loved one to violence and rape is anything but. To claim as you have that these are just individual crimes that will be resolved by stiffer penalties, longer jail terms, is to completely ignore the societal impact of life in precarious circumstances, marginalized on underserviced reserves and how this contributes to the statistics mentioned above. The litany of horrors that have been intentionally rained upon our First Peoples is legion. These have been contrived mostly by white males of European extraction.
Most importantly, we must keep in mind that having an inquiry should not delay remedial action. A Conservative law and order platform will not necessarily be excluded as a course of action while at the same time addressing the long standing inequalities in Aboriginal communities.
Recently in the Globe and Mail it was reported, "The human-rights arm of the Organization of American States says aboriginal women will continue to account for a disproportionately high number of Canadian murder victims until Canada addresses the root causes of discrimination and social and economic marginalization."
The provincial and territorial premiers have voiced the need for an inquiry. International Human Rights Organizations have called for one. Most native leaders have voiced a need. There is an ever growing groundswell of support from Canadian voters for an inquiry. This is an election year. Is it not in your interest to appear to be addressing this issue on multiple fronts?
I have been asked by Peace and Justice Grey Bruce to craft this letter on their behalf. Our non partisan organization represents over 475 subscribing members from across the political spectrum. We live in an area with a large contingent of First Nations people. Many of our friends and families have been touched by these tragedies. The time to act is now.
Respectfully,
Michael McLuhan
Georgian Bluffs
On behalf of Peace and Justice Grey Bruce
Sources:
- macleans.ca August 26, 2014
- Metrac.org
- Globe and Mail January 12th 2015
