Calls for a national inquiry into the phenomenon of missing and murdered women accompanied Monday's release of the final report of the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry. This echoes a similar call made recently by Assembly of First Nations National Chief Shawn Atleo for a national inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women and girls in Canada.
After watching Monday's release of the commission's final report, I have been unable to get a question asked by Lori-Ann Ellis, the sister-in-law of Cara Ellis, out of my mind.
Having just learned from Commissioner Wally Oppal that many of her specific concerns were not addressed in the final report, Ellis asked: "Is there a better way to get the government to listen?"
For me, Ellis' question captures the critical problem with a national inquiry — we can hold one, but will anyone listen? While I absolutely understand the need for a national inquiry to ensure that the voices of those who have been excluded from previous inquiries are heard, this doesn't require that anyone actually listen or that the Canadian state will do anything to change things.
My extreme pessimism here arises from having spent the last few years examining the multitude of inquiries, commissions, and other state-based fact-finding missions addressing the issues of violence against women, in general, and violence against aboriginal women and girls in particular.
Among them the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry of Manitoba; The Canadian Panel on Violence Against Women ; The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples to name just a few. And I see three things:
- Women have had to ask the Canadian state again and again for basic protections of their human rights, including the right to live a life free from violence.
- The state has spent an extraordinary amount of money to study, again and again, what they should do to address violence against women.
- That despite an extraordinary amount of money spent, the extremely generous contributions of time, energy, and insight by women, service providers, experts, and political advocates, and an extensive list of recommendations on how to end violence against women, the state has done relatively little to address violence against women in this country.
An inquiry, however, allows the Canadian state to
appear that is doing something about violence against women
without every having to actually do anything. Indeed, with state-based information gathering mechanisms like inquiries, the state does little more than create and fund it, and it is the work of commissioners, but more importantly, contributors to make things happen.
I don't know about all of you, but I am tired of letting the state get away with this. I am tired of letting the state look like it cares about the lives of women, while all the time it does nothing to actually protect women from violence. I am tired of always having to be in the position of having to convince the government that the lives of women matter. In fact, the state's disinterest in meaningfully addressing violence against women suggests to me the critical investment that this state has in dominant systems of oppression, like patriarchy, racism, and colonialism.
But most of all, I want action. Waiting for the state to do something about violence is literally killing us, so I am not interested in participating in any delaying tactics or knowledge gathering for a state that clearly isn't listening.
I want meaningful change and I want it now, and I don't think that's too much to ask for. Because my life and the lives of all women and girls are worth more than this.
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Sereena Abotsway
Born Aug. 20, 1971, Abotsway suffered from fetal alcohol syndrome and lived with a foster family most of her life. She was 29 when she was last seen in August 2001. Robert Pickton was convicted of her murder in 2007.
Georgina Papin
Born March 11, 1964, Papin had seven children. She was last seen in March 1999. Robert Pickton was convicted of her murder in 2007.
Mona Wilson
Born Jan. 13, 1975, Wilson had a son. She was last seen in November 2001. Robert Pickton was convicted of her murder in 2007.
Marnie Frey
Born Aug. 30, 1973 in Campbell River, B.C. Her daughter, Brittney, was born five years before she disappeared and gave an impact statement at Pickton's trial. Frey was last seen in August 1997. Robert Pickton was convicted of her murder in 2007.
Brenda Wolfe
Born Oct. 20, 1968, Wolfe had a son. She was last seen in February 1999. Robert Pickton was convicted of her murder in 2007.
Andrea Joesbury
Born Nov. 6, 1978, in Victoria. Joesbury had a daughter. She was last seen in June 2001. Robert Pickton was convicted of her murder in 2007.
Cara Ellis
Known on the street as Nicky Trimble, Ellis was born April 13, 1971 and was last seen in January 1997. Robert Pickton was charged with her murder but the charge was stayed in 2010.
Andrea Borhaven
Born Jan. 19, 1972 in Armstrong, B.C. Borhaven was reported missing to police on May 18, 1999, but was last seen in 1997. Robert Pickton was charged with her murder but the charge was stayed in 2010.
Kerry Koski
Born Aug. 14, 1959, Koski had three daughters. She was last seen Jan. 7, 1998. Robert Pickton was charged with her murder but the charge was stayed in 2010.
Wendy Crawford
Born April 21, 1956, Crawford had a son and a daughter. She was last seen in December 1999. Robert Pickton was charged with her murder but the charge was stayed in 2010.
Debra Jones
Born in 1957, she was last seen in December 2000. Robert Pickton was charged with her murder but the charge was stayed in 2010.
Tiffany Drew
Born Jan. 31, 1975, Drew had three children. She was last seen March 2000. Robert Pickton was charged with her murder but the charge was stayed in 2010.
Sarah DeVries
Born May 12, 1969, to a troubled mother and adopted at 11 months. De Vries' journals and poetry have been widely published since she was last seen April 21, 1998. Her sister, Maggie de Vries, wrote about her sister in the award-winning book Missing Sarah. Robert Pickton was charged with her murder but the charge was stayed in 2010.
Cynthia (Cindy) Feliks
Born Dec. 12, 1954 in Detroit, Feliks was a mother and grandmother. She was last seen in December 1997. Robert Pickton was charged with her murder but the charge was stayed in 2010.
Angela Jardine
Born Dec. 12, 1954 in Detroit, Feliks was a mother and grandmother. She was last seen in December 1997. Robert Pickton was charged with her murder but the charge was stayed in 2010.
Diana Melnick
Born Aug. 26, 1975, Melnick was last seen Dec. 27, 1995. Robert Pickton was charged with her murder but the charge was stayed in 2010.
Jacqueline McDonnell
Born June 6, 1976, McDonell had a daughter. She was last seen Jan. 16, 1999. Robert Pickton was charged with her murder but the charge was stayed in 2010.
Dianne Rock
Born Sept. 2, 1967, Rock had five children. She was last seen in October 2001. Robert Pickton was charged with her murder but the charge was stayed in 2010.
Heather Bottomley
Born Aug. 17, 1976, Bottomley had two children. She was last seen April 2001. Robert Pickton was charged with her murder but the charge was stayed in 2010.
Jennifer Furminger
Born Oct. 22, 1971, Furminger grew up in St. Catharine's, Ont. She had a son and police say she was last seen in December 1999. Robert Pickton was charged with her murder but the charge was stayed in 2010.
Helen Hallmark
Born June 24, 1966, Hallmark had a daughter. She was last seen June 15, 1997. Robert Pickton was charged with her murder but the charge was stayed in 2010.
Patricia Johnson
Born Dec. 2, 1975. Johnson had a son and a daughter, and was last seen March 2001. Robert Pickton was charged with her murder but the charge was stayed in 2010.
Heather Chinnock
Born Nov. 10, 1970 in Denver, Colo. She had two children. She was last seen April 2001. Robert Pickton was charged with her murder but the charge was stayed in 2010.
Tanya Holyk
Born Dec. 8. 1975, Holyk had a son. She was last Oct. 29, 1996. Robert Pickton was charged with her murder but the charge was stayed in 2010.
Sherry Irving
Born March 19, 1973, Irving was last seen in April 1997. Robert Pickton was charged with her murder but the charge was stayed in 2010.
Inga Hall
Born in 1952 in Germany, Hall had two daughters and two granddaughters. She was last seen in February 1998. Robert Pickton was charged with her murder but the charge was stayed in 2010.
Nancy Clark
Born July 29, 1966, Clark was last seen Aug. 22, 1991 and reported missing to Victoria police the following day. Her DNA was found on Robert Pickton's farm but no charge was ever laid in her case.
Stephanie Lane
Born May 28, 1976, Lane grew up in Vancouver. She was 20 years old and had recently given birth to her only son when she disappeared from the Downtown Eastside in January of 1997. Her DNA was found on Robert Pickton's farm but there was never any charge in her case.
Dawn Crey
Born Oct. 26, 1958, Crey was a member of the Sto:lo First Nation near Chilliwack, B.C., and had a son. She was last seen in November of 2000. Her DNA was found on Robert Pickton's farm but no charge was ever laid in her case.
Jacqueline Murdock
Born Jan. 28, 1971, Murdock was the youngest daughter of a large First Nation family in Fort St. James. She had four children. She was last seen on Aug. 13, 1997. Her DNA was found on Robert Pickton's farm but no charge was ever laid in her case.
Sharon Abraham
Last seen in 2000. Her DNA was found on Robert Pickton's farm but no charge was ever laid in her case.
Yvonne Boen
Born Nov. 30, 1967, Boen had a son. She was last seen in March of 2001. Her DNA was found on Robert Pickton's farm but no charge was ever laid in her case.
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