A report released today that links social and economic inequities with the nearly 600 missing or murdered Aboriginal women should be a wake-up call to Stephen Harper, who has so far ignored calls for an inquiry and scrapped the Kelowna Accord that would have addressed many of those inequities, Liberal MPs said today.
“This is a government that has treated Aboriginal people like second-class citizens, first by cutting important social programs contained in the Kelowna Accord, and then by refusing to call a full investigation into missing women and girls,” said Liberal Status of Women Critic Anita Neville.
“We have called on this government time and again to take action on improving the living conditions for Aboriginal Canadians and to investigate missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls,” added Liberal Critic for Aboriginal Affairs Todd Russell. “But our voices, and those of our First Nations, have fallen on deaf ears.”
The Native Women’s Association of Canada’s latest report, “What Their Stories Tell Us,” states that as of March 31, more than 582 Aboriginal women and girls have gone missing or been found murdered in Canada since 1970 – an increase of 60 reported cases from last year.
Along with highlighting the socio-economic inequities between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal women, it also reveals that Aboriginal women experience much higher rates of violence.
The Liberal Kelowna Accord sought to improve the socio-economic conditions of Aboriginal Canadians by closing the gap in education, skills development, health care, housing, access to clean water and employment.
“Across this country, Aboriginal women and girls are disappearing at an alarming rate, with many instances going unreported,” added Mr. Russell. “The Government of Manitoba took the lead last year by coordinating a provincial investigation. But human trafficking crosses provincial and territorial boundaries, and to get to the root of this serious issue requires federal government leadership.”
Last May, the Liberal Opposition called on the Harper government to conduct a government-funded, public investigation into how and why the number of missing and murdered women and girls from Aboriginal communities is so high. Last summer, the Manitoba government established a task force to review cases involving missing and murdered women in the province.
“This week is National Victims of Crime Awareness Week and the Harper Government has not uttered one mention of the Aboriginal women and girls who are victims of these crimes,” concluded Ms. Neville. “For a government that claims to be tough on crime, justice for these women is out of reach.”
