It was a campaign promise that Justin Trudeau made and Stephen Harper didn’t – a national inquiry in the country’s estimated missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. This morning, the Trudeau Liberal government named the five commissioners who will conduct the inquiry. Joining chief commissioner Marion Buller will be Michèle Audette, Qajaq Robinson, Marilyn Poitras, and Brian Eyolfson. "The launch of the Inquiry represents a concrete expression of the government's commitment to honouring the lives of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls,” said Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada Jody Wilson- Raybould who, along with Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Carolyn Bennett and Minister of Status of Women Patty Hajdu, announced the commissioners . “By examining the root causes that have contributed to this national tragedy, including past and present systemic and institutional barriers, the Commission of Inquiry will play a pivotal role in helping all of us to define where best to continue to act to protect the human rights of all Indigenous women and girls in Canada." Buller was appointed the first female First Nations judge in British Columbia in 1994. Prior to being appointed to the Provincial Court bench, Buller worked as a civil and criminal lawyer (1988-1994). Buller served as both a director and president of Canada's Indigenous Bar Association and has been a member of the B.C. Police Commission and the Law Court Education Society. She was the Commission Counsel for the Cariboo-Chilcotin Justice Inquiry and published reports and articles dealing with Aboriginal rights and legal services for First Nations in British Columbia. Judge Buller was instrumental in starting the First Nations Court of British Columbia in 2006. Ottawa has committed $53.86 million over two years to establish an Inquiry which will make recommendations on concrete actions to address and prevent violence against Indigenous women and girls, including systemic and societal discrimination. Today’s announcement follows a cross-country pre- inquiry process that will help shape the inquiry the commissioners will now be heading. The inquiry will be funded by the Ottawa, with the participation and full co-operation of all the provinces and territories. “While British Columbia’s Oppal Inquiry looked at specific cases of missing and murdered women in the Downtown Eastside and along the Highway of Tears, the national inquiry will take a new approach, focusing on the underlying root causes and systemic issues that increase the vulnerability of Indigenous women and girls,” said B.C.’s Attorney General and Minister of Justice Suzanne Anton. “… The B.C. government is pleased to confirm B.C.’s support for, and intention to participate fully in, the national inquiry. B.C. is heartened that across Canada the topic of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls is getting the attention and leadership it deserves.” The commission is directed to examine and report on the systemic causes behind the violence that Indigenous women and girls experience and their greater vulnerability to that violence by looking for patterns and underlying factors that explain why higher levels of violence occur. The underlying factors could be historical, social, economic, institutional or cultural – it will be up to the commission to decide what underlying factors it will decide to examine and report on. The commission is also directed to examine and report on the impacts of policies and practices of government institutions. These include institutions such as policing, child welfare, coroners and other government policies/ practices or social/economic conditions. The Inquiries Act gives the commission certain powers to call witnesses and compel evidence –commissioners can call before them any witness to give evidence and commissioners can require the production of documents relevant to their investigation. In response to the pre-inquiry recommendations, Ottawa also announced today $16.17 million over four years for the creation of Family Information Liaison Units in each province and territory and to increase Victims Services funding to provide culturally- appropriate victims services for families of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls and survivors of violence.

Five named to MMIW inquiry