Chief commissioner hopes MMIWG report leads to change

The chief commissioner of the national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG) is calling on policy makers to step up following this week’s release of the inquiry’s final report.

“I expect that they will take action on all of our calls for justice because it’s the right thing to do,” Chief Commissioner Marion Buller said Tuesday on Gormley.

The final report includes 231 recommendations aimed at improving conditions and reducing the violence suffered by Indigenous women and girls.

Buller acknowledged that some people reading the report might not be comfortable with recommendations covering things ranging from fighting human trafficking to providing clean drinking water in Indigenous communities.

“I’m hoping that this discomfort is going to be a source for moving forward in a good way,” she said.

Buller also addressed what might be the most controversial aspect of the report, namely its use of the word “genocide” to describe violence faced by Indigenous women, girls and members of the LGBTQ2 community.

She said that the term is an appropriate description, but that it may come as a shock to many given that the issue hasn’t historically received much attention.

“So what’s this Canada about after all? Because we didn’t know this truth. We weren’t taught it in school,” Buller said.

The inquiry’s report was based off testimony gathered at dozens of sessions across the country over about three years.