Terry Teegee, First Nations Regional BC Assembly leader, says the Families of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) are frustrated at the lack of progress since the national inquiry ended nearly four years ago.
The AFN National MMIWG2S+ Gathering concluded two days of meetings in Vancouver on Thursday. Families from across the country met with AFN regional leaders and government officials to discuss a national plan of action for MMIWG.
“The overall temperature of what we’re seeing here at this gathering, and also at other events of this nature, is that there’s a sense of frustration,” Teegee said.
“I certainly understand it and I’m frustrated myself at the lack of progress.”
The final report of the 2019 MMIWG inquiry outlined 231 calls for justice – recommendations to all levels of government, including indigenous governments and institutions like the RCMP.
In 2021, a national action plan to end violence against indigenous women and girls was released.
Teegee said the momentum to implement these measures stalled with the onset of the pandemic and has not picked up again.
“There needs to be more accountability, particularly in terms of the implementation of the action plan and proper resource allocation, which we’ve heard time and again ministers promise to tribal peoples,” Teegee said.
He said dedicated resources and likely millions of dollars have yet to come from the federal government.
“I find [the lack of progress] really speaks to the lack of support and/or political will from the federal and…all levels of government.”
No one from the MMIWG Federal Secretariat office that attended the gathering was available for interview.
In an emailed statement, the office said it “continues to regularly monitor and follow up on progress to ensure accountability so concrete changes can be made in the lives of First Nations women and girls.”
The AFN country chief could not be reached for an interview. The AFN Women’s Council and the Judiciary Secretariat did not respond to a request for comment.
Data is still needed, families say
Meggie Cywink, a member of the MMIWG family from the Whitefish River First Nation, about 77 kilometers southwest of Sudbury, Ontario, said the discussions at the event were a good start, but she wants families to keep getting involved while the demands for justice are implemented.
“Families are still printing their own posters, families are still paying for their own gas, families are still struggling to locate their missing loved ones,” Cywink said.
“That is not acceptable.”
According to Cywink, an oversight committee must be appointed to ensure that the demands for justice are implemented.
She said the problem also needs to be quantified and no one seems to have a straight answer as to how many women and girls are going missing or murdered.
“How can you give money if you don’t know how many there are?” She said.
Cywink herself tracked MMIWG in Canada for about 10 years and said she has about 1,825 people in her database dating back to the 1800s.
“I’ve made it my life’s work … to put a number on what the government is trying to do, and they should do that themselves,” Cywink said.
