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Investigate missing women, Liberals urge

By: Mia Rabson

Posted: 05/14/2009 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

OTTAWA -- The federal Liberals are calling for a national public investigation into the hundreds of missing and murdered aboriginal women in Canada.Winnipeg South Centre MP Anita Neville Wednesday said if over 500 women from any other community in this country had been murdered or gone missing there would be a huge public outcry and aboriginal Canadians deserve better.

"We will be relentless on this," said Neville, her party's critic for the status of women portfolio. "It's simply time to act."

The Sisters in Spirit initiative of the Native Women's Association of Canada, released its latest report recently, documenting the murder or disappearance of 520 aboriginal women and girls in the last four decades, 245 of them since 2000. Seventy-one of those women are from Manitoba, including three who disappeared in the last six months of 2008. Jennifer Catcheway, 18, disappeared June 19. Claudette Osborne, 21, disappeared July 24. And Amber McFarland, 24, disappeared Oct. 18.

Liberal Senator Lillian Dyck said in the vast majority of these cases, the families of these women have taken it upon themselves to document what is happening.

"It's time now that the burden is moved off the family and onto the government, the federal government to take leadership so that families get the work done by somebody else, they get resources so that they be looked after," said Dyck.

Beverley Jacobs, president of the Native Women's Association of Canada, said this is not the first time a call for a more thorough, national investigation has occurred.

"The whole government knows how serious this issue is," she said.

Helena Guergis, minister of state for the status of women, said the government is committed to developing the Sisters in Spirit initiative further.

mia.rabson@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition May 14, 2009 A7

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