In Saskatchewan, there is aboriginal identity-specific information related to missing and murdered aboriginal women and girls.
I do understand your point around the sensitivity of collecting information around ethnic identity and specific aboriginal identity. I think there has to be an ethical protocol that goes along with it, that supports a sensitivity and cultural need. Rather than approaching it from a perspective of racial profiling, it needs to be welcomed by communities and essentially incorporated into communities able and willing to share information as opposed to having information extracted. Typical or traditional research methods, whereby information is extracted without any reciprocity back to the communities or even providing resources or services to meet the needs of communities, that's where it becomes a challenge.
About two years ago we conducted community engagement workshops on justice within 10 different communities to talk about the issue of collection of data on justice issues, and the specific question of collecting information by aboriginal identity, including first nations, Métis, and Inuit.
What came out was a very cautious, yes, this information should be collected, but it must be done in a culturally appropriate way. It must be done in a way that honours the communities, the cultures, and the need for services and resources once the information is collected. You can't just take information and then never apply the appropriate response to the communities in terms of victim services, access to shelters, culturally appropriate counselling services for victims of domestic violence or even other forms of violence.
That is where the disconnect is in terms of collecting information. We have to move forward with those resources and supports in place so that once we do collect the information, an immediate response is available to communities.