‘Our voices are being heard’: Indigenous leadership, RCMP unveil Joint Action Circle

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This article was published 14/12/2023 (689 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A new committee involving Manitoba RCMP and Indigenous organizations seeks to address violence against Indigenous women, girls and LGBTTQ+ people.

However, some organizations say confronting systemic issues within the national police service must be addressed first.

While still in its planning stages, Joint Action Circle — said to be the first collaboration of its kind in Canada — will look to implement recommendations from the final report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

“Finally, our voices are being heard,” Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Cathy Merrick said at a Thursday news conference in Winnipeg.

Mounties say they identified 10 priorities — including prevention, education, policing and victim services — which the group will work to confront.

Indigenous women and girls continue to be over-represented in homicide statistics, said assistant commissioner Rob Hill, commanding officer of the Manitoba RCMP. Last year, 21 per cent of homicide victims in Manitoba RCMP jurisdiction were Indigenous women.

“This is why we are here today; we need to address this violence and we can’t do it alone,” Hill said.

The Manitoba Métis Federation, Manitoba Keewatinowi Organization, Southern Chiefs’ Organization, Manitoba Inuit Association, and Treaty Relations Commission of Manitoba will be among the groups involved with the Joint Action Circle.

“This is one step forward to be be able to work with the RCMP, to be able to speak about our MMIWG and two-spirit people,” Merrick said.

While the work is set to begin in February, when the circle’s first meeting is slated, organizations say challenges lie ahead.

The province’s treaty commissioner said addressing inherent issues within the RCMP (such as discrimination against Indigenous people) should be a priority.

“To start to change that mindset is going to be a huge challenge,” said Loretta Ross. “Not just driving through a community like you’re an authority, but driving in that community saying ‘I’m part of this community, I want to be part of this community,’ and that’s going to take some time.”

Nikki Komaksiutiksak, chief executive officer of Tunngasugit Inuit Resource Centre, called the initiative “ground-breaking,” but stressed the need for all voices of Indigenous people in Manitoba to be represented at the table.

Komaksiutiksak, an Inuk woman from Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut, pointed to a historical lack of Inuit representation in wider conversations around MMIWG.

“We need that voice, and if no one does the work to create these spaces, it’s never going to get done.”

Understanding different Indigenous traditional values and incorporating them into the RCMP’s framework will be key to the circle’s success, she said.

“When we think about what it feels like to be safe as a Manitoban, understanding those cultures and shying away from discrimination and racism is just only going to make things easier with that relationship-building.”

Meantime, Merrick is asking for a database for missing and murdered Indigenous people — including men and boys — to be created and put in the hands of Indigenous-led organizations to ensure statistics are accurate and up to date.

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca