Inquiry Into Murdered Native Women Won't Solve Anything

[Anonymous]

I can't believe the dippers want to waste our money on something they know will solve nothing.

If the federal government launched a commission of inquiry into murdered and missing aboriginal women, we would be told what we already know.



An inquiry, which would cost tens of millions of dollars, would tell us many First Nations people live in squalor on remote reserves where broken families, severe addictions, a lack of economic opportunity and hopelessness contribute to a broad range of societal ills, including high rates of criminal activity and victimization.



The inquiry would review — again — how 150 years of colonialism and paternalistic legislation has oppressed generations of aboriginals and how most First Nations are still treated as wards of the state.



The inquiry would review the statistics on reserves: outrageously high rates of suicide, little to no education, virtually no employment, and disproportionately high rates of incarceration. It would tell us how those problems are generational and how they spill out into urban areas. The probe would confirm the vast majority of people killing aboriginal women are the spouses, boyfriends, acquaintances and family members of the victims, the same as it is for all female murder victims in Canada, which we already know. And it would show how police solve close to 90% of the murders in question, the same as they do for all murdered women.



The inquiry would also show how aboriginal men are murdered at an even higher rate than aboriginal women, but that part would be glossed over because it wouldn't meet the political objective of the probe.



The inquiry would hear hundreds of days of testimony and review dozens of reports and papers on the scholarly work many have already done on the subject. The media would have daily stories regurgitating statistics that already exist and have been reported in the past, presenting them as new as if to incriminate current governments.



The inquiry would then make "sweeping recommendations" to target the "root causes" of criminality and victimization among native peoples. We would get hundreds of pages and volumes of analysis on why criminality and victimization is higher among aboriginal populations and what "bold" steps need to be taken to begin the healing process. Most of the recommendations would deflect attention away from the glaring reality that until we stop segregating people based on race and until we eliminate the Indian Act, none of these problems will ever go away.



Why do I know this? Because we've seen these inquiries and probes before.



They cost a fortune, they go through all the motions mentioned above, and they result in very little action. Nothing changes because politicians don't have the spine to make real change and because many First Nations leaders and government bureaucrats, who benefit from the status quo, sabotage any attempts to revolutionize the system.



Look at the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, which released its massive report in 1996. It recommended all kinds of sweeping changes to the system. They even set out a 20-year timeline over which substantial progress was supposed to be made. They predicted that by 2016, many of the problems we still have today would be solved.



"We held 178 days of public hearings, visited 96 communities, consulted dozens of experts, commissioned scores of research studies, reviewed numerous past inquiries and reports," the commisioners wrote at the time. "Our central conclusion can be summarized simply: The main policy direction, pursued for more than 150 years, first by colonial then by Canadian governments, has been wrong."



But then very little changed after that. We've had the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry in Manitoba and a recent inquiry on missing and murdered women in British Columbia. We've studied these issues for decades. And we're not going to learn anything new from another inquiry.



We need more First Nation leaders like Osoyoos Chief Clarence Louie, who has turned his B.C. First Nation around, and politicians with the balls to make real change.



Because I can guarantee you another inquiry isn't going to change a damn thing.

http://www.winnipegsun.com/2014/08/27/inquiry-on-missing-and-murdered-aboriginal-women-would-give-us-answers-we-already-know">http://www.winnipegsun.com/2014/08/27/i ... ready-know">http://www.winnipegsun.com/2014/08/27/inquiry-on-missing-and-murdered-aboriginal-women-would-give-us-answers-we-already-know

[Obvious Li]

every word true true true...we all know who is beating, raping and murdering aboriginal women.....the police solve 90% of the cases....a costly royal commission will solve nothing.....until natives want to admit the truth...nothing will change

[Anonymous]

every word true true true...we all know who is beating, raping and murdering aboriginal women.....the police solve 90% of the cases....a costly royal commission will solve nothing.....until natives want to admit the truth...nothing will change

It will benefit some whites who make their living off the "Indian industry" as well as some lawyers. I'm sure a little of the commission largesse will find it's way into the bank accounts of grossly overpaid chiefs too.

[Gary Oak]

A friend of mine confirmed that every Indian girl has been molested her chugaboo brothers, fathers, uncles or neighbors.

[Anonymous]

A friend of mine confirmed that every Indian girl has been molested her chugaboo brothers, fathers, uncles or neighbors.

I don't about your "friend" Oak, but I do know sexual abuse rates are far too high in our Aboriginal communities.

[Anonymous]

I can't believe the dippers want to waste our money on something they know will solve nothing.

If the federal government launched a commission of inquiry into murdered and missing aboriginal women, we would be told what we already know.



An inquiry, which would cost tens of millions of dollars, would tell us many First Nations people live in squalor on remote reserves where broken families, severe addictions, a lack of economic opportunity and hopelessness contribute to a broad range of societal ills, including high rates of criminal activity and victimization.



The inquiry would review — again — how 150 years of colonialism and paternalistic legislation has oppressed generations of aboriginals and how most First Nations are still treated as wards of the state.



The inquiry would review the statistics on reserves: outrageously high rates of suicide, little to no education, virtually no employment, and disproportionately high rates of incarceration. It would tell us how those problems are generational and how they spill out into urban areas. The probe would confirm the vast majority of people killing aboriginal women are the spouses, boyfriends, acquaintances and family members of the victims, the same as it is for all female murder victims in Canada, which we already know. And it would show how police solve close to 90% of the murders in question, the same as they do for all murdered women.



The inquiry would also show how aboriginal men are murdered at an even higher rate than aboriginal women, but that part would be glossed over because it wouldn't meet the political objective of the probe.



The inquiry would hear hundreds of days of testimony and review dozens of reports and papers on the scholarly work many have already done on the subject. The media would have daily stories regurgitating statistics that already exist and have been reported in the past, presenting them as new as if to incriminate current governments.



The inquiry would then make "sweeping recommendations" to target the "root causes" of criminality and victimization among native peoples. We would get hundreds of pages and volumes of analysis on why criminality and victimization is higher among aboriginal populations and what "bold" steps need to be taken to begin the healing process. Most of the recommendations would deflect attention away from the glaring reality that until we stop segregating people based on race and until we eliminate the Indian Act, none of these problems will ever go away.



Why do I know this? Because we've seen these inquiries and probes before.



They cost a fortune, they go through all the motions mentioned above, and they result in very little action. Nothing changes because politicians don't have the spine to make real change and because many First Nations leaders and government bureaucrats, who benefit from the status quo, sabotage any attempts to revolutionize the system.



Look at the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, which released its massive report in 1996. It recommended all kinds of sweeping changes to the system. They even set out a 20-year timeline over which substantial progress was supposed to be made. They predicted that by 2016, many of the problems we still have today would be solved.



"We held 178 days of public hearings, visited 96 communities, consulted dozens of experts, commissioned scores of research studies, reviewed numerous past inquiries and reports," the commisioners wrote at the time. "Our central conclusion can be summarized simply: The main policy direction, pursued for more than 150 years, first by colonial then by Canadian governments, has been wrong."



But then very little changed after that. We've had the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry in Manitoba and a recent inquiry on missing and murdered women in British Columbia. We've studied these issues for decades. And we're not going to learn anything new from another inquiry.



We need more First Nation leaders like Osoyoos Chief Clarence Louie, who has turned his B.C. First Nation around, and politicians with the balls to make real change.



Because I can guarantee you another inquiry isn't going to change a damn thing.

http://www.winnipegsun.com/2014/08/27/inquiry-on-missing-and-murdered-aboriginal-women-would-give-us-answers-we-already-know">http://www.winnipegsun.com/2014/08/27/i ... ready-know">http://www.winnipegsun.com/2014/08/27/inquiry-on-missing-and-murdered-aboriginal-women-would-give-us-answers-we-already-know

I too feel time and resources could be better allocated than on an inquiry.

[Anonymous]

I too feel time and resources could be better allocated than on an inquiry.

Are you feeling OK? ac_wot

[Anonymous]

I too feel time and resources could be better allocated than on an inquiry.

Are you feeling OK? ac_wot

Yes, I am feeling fine..



Does it surprise you that I do not want to waste money on an inquiry that will not reduce violence in Aboriginal communities?

[Rambo Wong]

hung fan diu hai

[Anonymous]

hung fan diu hai

Take a hike Canto boy.

[Anonymous]

I can think of so many better ways to help Aboriginals than an inquiry..



It's not a good use of resources.

[Gary Oak]

Every Indian girl in Canada has been sexually assaulted by a relative or family friend.