Council of Canadians chapter activists and staff join drumming circle in Hamilton in support of a MMIW inquiry.
Council of Canadians chapters are taking action to support the call for a national inquiry on murdered and missing Indigenous women.
This past weekend, marches were held across the country to demand that the Harper government move forward with this inquiry. Members from the Mid Island, Moose Jaw, Montreal and Hamilton chapters took part in these marches. Council of Canadians staff in Vancouver and Toronto also participated in these marches.
The Moose Jaw chapter has also submitted a letter to the editor supporting the inquiry and will ask their city council to pass a municipal resolution backing the call for an inquiry. The Hamilton and St. John’s chapters recently had their letters to the editor published in their local newspapers. The North Shore chapter put out an appeal to their supporters to do the same in Nova Scotia. And the Brant chapter has just sent their letter to newspapers in Brant and Brantford. They have also written their Member of Parliament as well as their Member of Provincial Parliament.
Assembly of First Nations National Chief Perry Bellegarde says a national inquiry would help expose the colonial roots of violence against Indigenous women in Canada. CBC reports, “Bellegarde said the lingering impacts of the ‘cultural genocide’ of the residential school system and the imposition of the Indian Act on First Nations communities continue to ‘really hurt indigenous peoples in Canada’.” About 150,000 Indigenous children in this country were forced to attend residential schools.
Over the past three years the Council of Canadians has repeatedly called for a national inquiry on murdered and missing Indigenous women. When chapter activists gathered in Hamilton this past October for our annual conference, many also attended a sacred fire gathering that was part of a national day of action calling for a national inquiry.
Further reading
Take action on Feb. 27 for a national inquiry on murdered and missing Indigenous women
Hamilton chapter calls for inquiry into murdered and missing Indigenous women
North Shore chapter asks its supporters to take action for a MMIW inquiry
St. John’s chapter calls for inquiry into murdered and missing Indigenous women
