Mr. Speaker, today we recognize the Sisters in Spirit vigil on the front steps of the House of Commons and all across the country. Many survivors of violence against murdered and missing indigenous women, girls, and two-spirited people are glad that the inquiry has started, but they are also expressing still a great deal of trauma and sadness. We still have such a long way to go to achieve closure for these families.
I really want to recognize in the House the advocacy and strength of the families and the indigenous organizations that have brought us to this point and that have pushed to make the inquiry a reality.
The inquiry was announced during the summer while the House was not in session. Indigenous organizations and representatives of families articulated five concerns about the terms of reference for the inquiry, and I would like to get on the record what the government's response was to those dissatisfactions. It may be that it tweaked the terms of reference or did incorporate those concerns.
The first one is that the murdered and missing indigenous women inquiry should have full access to trauma-informed and culturally appropriate counselling, and that would not be limited to the duration of their appearance before the commission. That is culturally appropriate support before, during, and following any testimony.
The second area of concern was whether the inquiry would compel the reopening of cold cases and cases that were dismissed maybe accidentally as accidents or suicides.
Third, what is the role of the police, the provinces, and the territories in the inquiry? We need full participation of those provincial agencies to know that we are getting at the child welfare problems, the domestic violence shelters, all of the police forces that are controlled either by provinces, territories, indigenous governments, or the federal government.
The fourth area of concern is that there was no explicit mention of the need to work with justice partners. Does our criminal justice system deal adequately, and what can we do to address the systemic discrimination that indigenous people have faced in the justice system?
Finally, there is the need for the addition of a sixth commissioner who is an Inuit woman. The president of Pauktuutit, Rebecca Kudloo, said:
For this inquiry to be of maximum benefit for Inuit it must be led by indigenous women including us as Inuit women. To me, this is a fundamental matter of principle, equality and trust.
I would like to hear from the government. How did it fill those gaps? How is it moving forward? I hope that some of these identified problems have been filled. We would all benefit from knowing that indigenous families and advocacy organizations were heard and that their concerns are now reflected in the final terms of reference for the inquiry now under way.