Canada is complicit in a "race-based genocide" against indigenous women, a government inquiry has found.
Notable cases of missing or murdered indigenous women and girls had fuelled the call for a national inquiry. Photo: Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP
The report cited research finding indigenous women were 12 times more likely to be killed or to disappear than other women in Canada. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police revealed in 2014 that 1017 aboriginal women had been murdered between 1980 and 2012.
The inquiry, which was beset by delays and staff resignations, heard testimony from 468 family members of missing or murdered women. It blamed the crisis on deep-rooted colonialism and state inaction.
Among more than 200 recommendations is a call for all Canadians to help end violence, including by learning indigenous history.
The 1200-page document released Monday is the culmination of almost three years of hearings and research by the inquiry into disproportionate violence faced by indigenous women and girls in Canada.
"Despite their different circumstances and backgrounds, all of the missing and murdered are connected by economic, social, and political marginalisation, racism and misogyny woven into the fabric of Canadian society," said Marion Buller, chief commissioner of the inquiry.
It cost $CA92m ($NZ103m), and heard from more than 2,000 witnesses since 2017 - including survivors of violence and family members.
What's the background?
Mr Trudeau's government launched the national inquiry in September 2016, after years of demands for one by indigenous and international organisations.
Attendees console each other at the closing ceremony for the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in Gatineau, Quebec. Photo: Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP
Notable cases of missing or murdered indigenous women and girls had fuelled the call for a national inquiry, including the Vancouver murders by Robert Pickton, and the death of schoolgirl Tina Fontaine.
In 2015, a landmark Truth and Reconciliation report into the legacy of residential schools in Canada issued a damning verdict - that the policy amounted to "cultural genocide".
Monday's document takes that finding a step further saying that the murder and disappearance indigenous women and girls over the past few decades has amounted to a "race-based genocide of indigenous peoples".
How was Canada found to be complicit?
The report found that "persistent and deliberate human and indigenous rights violations and abuses are the root cause behind Canada's staggering rates of violence".
Past inquiries and investigations in Canada - from the 1996 Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples to the more recent Truth and Reconciliation report - have put forward about 900 wide-ranging recommendations to deal with many of the underlying issues.
Many have never been applied.
"One of the family members' and survivors' biggest fears in opening themselves up to this process as intense as this one is that in the end, nothing is done - the report gathers dust on a shelf and the recommendations are left unanswered," the final report said.
What's the reaction?
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau - who has made reconciliation with indigenous peoples a priority for his government - thanked those that shared stories with the commission, and vowed to enact the inquiry's recommendations.
"This is an uncomfortable day for Canada, but it is an essential day," he said.
Justin Trudeau Photo: Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP
Mr Trudeau did not mention genocide in his speech - a fact that was not lost on Michèle Audette, one of the report's commissioners.
"I was hoping that he would have that courage," she said during a press conference.
Today was a long time coming for many victims and their family.
"This journey has been emotional but also uplifting, because I've been able to share this day with all these families," Shelia LeDoux told the BBC.
Her niece went missing in 1992, but her remains were not found until four years later.
"Her voice is silent but I feel like I'm her voice, and I feel like I've carried forward with what I've promised."
Barbara Sevigny, whose sister was murdered 33 years ago, said today validated the pain she and her family have experienced.
"Our lives matter too. That became very real," she told the BBC, her voice cracking.
She said she had been disillusioned by broken promises in the past, and was waiting to see what steps the government would take.
What does the report recommend?
The chief commissioner said that nothing short of a "paradigm shift" was necessary to dismantle colonialism in Canadian society.
Ms Buller urged Canadians: "Read the report, speak out against sexism, racism, and misogyny. Hold government to account and decolonise yourself by learning about indigenous people and the true history of Canada".
The inquiry called on the federal government to create an independent mechanism for reporting annually on how the recommendations are being implemented.
Other recommendations include:
- Develop a national action plan to tackle violence against indigenous women and girls and ensure equitable access to public services
- Establish a National Indigenous and Human Rights Ombudsperson
- For governments to recognise and protect indigenous language rights and give them official language status
- For all levels of government to ensure support for programmes and services for indigenous women and girls in the sex industry
- BBC