The roundtable began on Wednesday with a closed-door session for MMIWG families only, followed by today’s sharing circles, where families of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls met with participants of the 2016 National Roundtable to discuss directly with provincial, territorial and Indigenous leaders their recommendations for achieving justice and ending violence. The roundtable concluded on Friday.
The first national roundtable on missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls was held in Ottawa in February 2015. Since then Justin Trudeau has been elected as Prime Minister, and has promised to convene a national inquiry later this year.
Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett, Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould and Status of Women Minister Haydu have toured the country to hear from family members about what the inquiry should look like.
President Chartier stated, “The Métis Nation welcomes this concerted action by all jurisdictions to deal with violence against Indigenous women and girls. Our governments and communities work tirelessly to improve the lives of our people and require active and ongoing support in their endeavors to achieve community safety and security.”
Women of the Métis Nation President Melanie Omeniho stated, “I am very proud of some of the major commitments that have been made by some of our various governments across the country. With their support we truly hope we can continue to work together to see the statistics change and that our Métis women and girls can feel free and valued as part of society.”
“An action plan built on real commitment by all jurisdictions is essential to the effectiveness of the measures they put in place to protect lives and create opportunities” added President Chartier.
Download:
MMIWG Roundtable Communique
MMIWG Outcomes and Priorities for Action
Video: Towards reconciliation on missing, murdered Women and Girls