A sign carried at a protest on behalf of missing children from the Sixties' Scoop. Children affected by that government program are sometimes the parents and grandparents of missing and murdered women.
Indigenous and Northern Affairs Minister, Carolyn Bennett, presents how the inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women will work. So far, it has only gotten off the ground in Ontario.
OTTAWA, ON-Almost eight months after the federal government promised to help the families of missing or murdered Indigenous women find their way through the tangle of Canada's justice system, the program has not gotten off the ground, with the exception of the province of Ontario.
Bernadette Smith knows the frustration. She lost her sister, Claudette Osborne, nine years ago, and she and her family are still waiting for help. "It's quite concerning for families," Bernadette told The Canadian Press (CP).
When the government revealed their plans for the national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women in August 2016, the Ministry of Justice said they would spend $11.7 million over three years so that Canada's provinces and territories would be able to set up information liaison units for families and they would do so all within their existing victims services departments.
The inquiry is supposed to begin hearings but that may not be possible because these information units are far from being implemented.
"There are still families whose loved ones are going missing," Smith told Joanna Smith of CP. "There is nowhere for them to go. There's nowhere for them to seek support in terms of having someone to advocate for them with the police," she said.
According to CP, Ontario is the only province that has set up its family information liaison unit, but even their set up is not fully up and running.
Justice Canada did promise another $4.5 million to support victims services projects which will give direct support to the families of missing or murdered women and girls.
