Front Burner - Inquiry calls murders and disappearances of Indigenous women 'Canadian genocide'

Episode Date: June 3, 2019

Today on Front Burner, CBC's Chantelle Bellrichard and Jorge Barrera report on the findings of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, and explain why the report says this violence is part of a "Canadian Genocide".

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Uncover bomb on board. Investigating the biggest unsolved mass murder in Canada. CP Flight 21. Get the Uncover podcast for free on Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts. Available now. Hello, I'm Jamie Poisson. Violence, racism, the everlasting notion I was not to be Native. But always knowing that I was different, I didn't think I was enough. When we had so many mistakes and the conclusion is no foul play, where is the justice in that?

I'm so sorry for what happened to you. I love you and I miss you. Those are the voices of Indigenous women who testified in a national inquiry that has been trying to understand why so many Indigenous women and girls in Canada have been murdered or have disappeared. Today is the culmination of this two-and-a-half-year journey, the release of the Commission's final report. It cost about $92 million,

with testimony from nearly 1,500 people. My colleagues Chantal Belrichard and Jorge Barrera from CBC's Indigenous Unit are joining me today from Ottawa to go over some of the report's key recommendations and to explain why the neglect and mistreatment of so many women and girls is being called a Canadian genocide. That's coming up on FrontBurner. Hi Chantal and Jorge, it's so nice to have you back on the podcast. Thanks for having us. Hi, thanks for having us. So let's make sense of this report.

Chantal, this document is two and a half years in the making. Can you tell me what this inquiry was meant to achieve? I think that often people confuse that it's really about missing and murdered women specifically, but it's much broader than that. It was tasked with looking into what are the root causes of the disproportionate amount of violence that is leveled against Indigenous women and girls in this country, and including in that the queer community as well. And so yeah looking at root causes of violence which of course also includes the disproportionate number of women and girls who've gone missing or been murdered. Three ministers announced the inquiry but they say families will be in the driver's seat. Both racism and sexism are a huge part of this. We need to

hear those stories such that Canadians understand, really, that racism and sexism in this country kills. I hope today we can parse through some of these root causes. Jorge, I want to start, though, with what feels like a big headline. Essentially, that the report pulls no punches with the language that they're calling

violence against Indigenous women and girls, a Canadian genocide. And how does the report justify using that word? It's not the first sort of institution that has come to this conclusion. It's important to note that the Canadian Museum of Human Rights, based in Winnipeg, has already changed its position from culture genocide to stating that, you know, genocide happened to Indigenous people in Canada. I think we've been very reflective of not only where we are as a country, but where we intend to go. So yes, there's been some change, but it's reflective of the conversations we have. There's also a 2013 op-ed report written by former National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations,

Phil Fontaine, and former Executive Director of the Canadian Jewish Congress, Bernie Farber, who wrote this piece arguing that the definition of genocide in the 1948 UN Convention on Genocide did apply in Canada. And that's where this report sort of begins its argument. You know, there's certain acts that it considers genocide if they're done with the intent to destroy in whole or impart a national ethnical racial religious group and it's this issue of intent that the inquiry says right there's all this discrepancy circulates around and whether it actually applies to the canadian context but

the report concludes that based on the evidence that it gathers that it meets the bar for that definition of genocide in Canada. And I'll just quickly quote from what it says and why it says this. Quote, this genocide has been empowered by colonial structures, evidenced notably by the Indian Act, the Sixties Group, residential schools, and breaches of human, Inuit, Métis, and First Nations rights, leading directly to the current increased rates of violence, death, and suicide in Indigenous populations. And how are people reacting to the use of that word right now?

You know, this is a very powerful word to use. It's basically, it's a crime against humanity. So there are many, especially in Indigenous communities, there are people who are saying this validates what we've been saying for a long time, that there was genocide here. Something Ivona Yellowback says she's known all her life. You know, it's crazy that it took $992 million and this commission report for those same statements and those words to be verifiable. same statements and those words to have to be verifiable when we our families and our mothers and our kookums were saying these and telling us even as young women growing up to be careful but just based on emails that i've gotten since we first reported on this from from canadians people

are sort of taken aback how can you use that word genocide when talking about canada so the reactions are are diametrically opposed to some some, it's a massive surprise. To others, we've known this for a long time. I think Canadians will see more validity, perhaps, in a body like this, because it was appointed by, you know, the federal government, and it's supported, and it's done all this work. And it's, you know, there's lots of lawyers involved. You know, Marion Buller, the chief commissioner, is a former judge. So I think, yeah, there's a validating factor. I think there's also wounds that are sort of being ripped open again. And there's a lot of sadness right now and a lot of grieving. And I know that it was quite upsetting to some people even to see the reports coming out. And then the reality is that this violence

and these girls and women and other people in communities who are going missing, it's still very much ongoing and top of mind for people. I want to go through with you some of these contemporary issues that you're talking about. So, Jorge, what does the report say about how police have treated and are treating cases involving Indigenous women and girls? Well, the report does discuss, you know, how, you know, police agencies in general haven't taken these cases seriously, You know, police agencies in general haven't taken these cases seriously, don't follow all the leads or take all the time they need to actually try to figure out, you know, what happens behind these deaths and coming to too quick a conclusion that a death isn't suspicious and not investigating it.

I did notice that the inquiry takes specific aim at the RCMP. It does, especially in its cooperation with the inquiry. Most of the police agencies it dealt with were willing to cooperate and to do what it could to provide files that the inquiry actually requested. So according to the inquiry's report, it issued subpoenas to 20 police agencies across Canada seeking about 479 files, but it only obtained 174. And there's various reasons for why it says it couldn't get them. Some of them had to do with time constraints, limited time that the inquiry felt that it had to do its work. There were some files that were either missing or, you know, they were too old, or there wasn't enough information to actually track them down. But also, there was, you know, some resistance to actually turning over

these files. And the inquiry point, like singles out the RCMP because of the, you know, the size of this police force and its importance to the policing of Indigenous communities. Right, right. The RCMP is responsible for policing about 40% of the Indigenous population. Am I right? Yes. And Chantal, when it comes to policing specifically, I know that this report has 231 recommendations, but did anything stand out to you? Did anything stand out to you? I mean, one of the things that jumps out is that there's one of the calls for justice is around creating an indigenous there can be some level of accountability leveled against the RCMP from Indigenous communities themselves. police services and the sort of feeling like when that relationship is sort of falling apart,

then where do people go and how much that contributes to people's safety or lack thereof. I said, we have to work together. This is my daughter. And then I even told them, this is your daughter now. I even gave them tobacco. When I got involved in Nadine's case, I did not understand the cost that I myself would have to pay to invest my time, to invest my emotions, to invest everything. Let's move on to the courts here. We've been talking a lot about this issue lately, related to the Supreme Court ordering of a new manslaughter trial and the death of Cindy Gladue.

We did a podcast about this last week. She was described as native and as a prostitute repeatedly through that trial. Most people said that likely had the effect of tainting the minds of the jury and essentially strip her of her human dignity. And this ruling in the Gladue case brought up how cases involving how violence against Indigenous women and girls are handled by the courts. And Chantelle, what does the inquiry call for? I think one of the biggest things that, if it were to go ahead, that would impact all Canadians, really, is the call for justice that talks about changing the criminal

code so that if there's a history of domestic violence, if a person has a history of violence against partners, his or her partners, and then if it results in death, that it would automatically be a first degree murder charge. I sat through a trial about a year and a half ago. It was for a man that was charged and he was charged with second degree murder in killing his partner, Rose Paul, who was the mom of five girls. What he did was he took the life of my niece and he left behind five daughters. We'll never have the mother ever again. Rose trusted and loved this man with her life. He was supposed to protect her. Instead, he took her life.

You know, his history, like he would be one of those cases where he had this history of escalating violence against partner after partner, getting charged over and over again for these attacks, that really on paper when they were going over in court, were really escalating in severity and came close to killing other women that he had been in a relationship with. In sentencing the judge said Paul presented an extreme risk to vulnerable women and they must be protected from him. Prosecutors previously tried to get Paul labeled a dangerous offender which could have led to an indefinite jail term, but that didn't happen. And sadly, when Rose and him got together,

that escalation of violence just sort of continued on with her, and not long after they'd been together, he ended up ending her life. And I sat there watching the family sitting in that court, and how devastated they were. It would be family like those of Rose Paul, who I would imagine, I obviously shouldn't speak for them, but I would imagine that that would be a welcome change for families like that. Okay. And I also noted when I was looking at the report this weekend, and correct me if I'm wrong, that there are also calls for more Indigenous people

to, for example, sit on juries. And this was something that came up in the Cindy Gladue case. There was no one on that jury that identified as Indigenous. And they definitely want more people, Indigenous people, in the courts sitting as judges. And they called for that in all levels of the courts, including the Supreme Court of Canada. Okay. Chantelle, I also want to talk to you about what this report says about the child welfare system. It talks about how colonial and racist attitudes are held, still held by those who work in and govern child welfare systems in Canada.

about the problems within the child welfare system and how that's really been sort of a next wave of separating Indigenous children from their families and their culture in many cases. And you heard a lot about the child welfare system in the testimony of survivors and family members who spoke to the inquiry during that truth-gathering process. One of the most disturbing stories that I heard during the testimonies was in Vancouver, and it was from Bernie Williams, who's a long, long time advocate, and she's worked

very closely with this inquiry in different roles. Now it's sort of a grandmother role and works closely with Commissioner Michelle Laudette. And she was talking about her experience being trafficked as a young child while she was in the foster care system. At the age of 11 to 12 years old, six of us girls were sold into the sex trade work we didn't know at the Empress Hotel in Prince Rupert. I mean, that in itself is incredibly heartbreaking to think of a little girl living that experience. But then she said something that, you know, even my mom phoned me about it after. She said, that woman, and Bernie's talked about how

she doesn't wear shorts often because of her legs. I've got cigarette burns all through my legs, right up to my back, around my buttock area. It's very scarred, really bad. This is what we well endured we were just kids and she was talking about that in sort of the context of of being trafficked as a child while she was in foster care um so wow yeah it's um but on in terms of the calls you know one of the things that stood out to me because bernie story, a small portion of her story, really stuck out to me, was that they do call on the child welfare agencies throughout the country to create, to have more rigorous requirements to ensure the safety of children in their care. And one of the things they say specifically is to prevent the recruitment of children in care into the sex industry.

We did hear the very real realities of how people did go from care and directly into incredibly vulnerable situations, whether that was actively abuse they experienced in care or abuse they experienced and then, you know, ran away so that they could find safety elsewhere, only to be vulnerable and met by other people who abused them. And yeah, so I think this is going to be a really important thing to look at. Yeah. And just to add what the inquiry report concludes is that the child welfare system is a tool in the genocide of Indigenous people.

And that's a quote. Quote, the Canadian state has used child welfare laws and agencies as a tool to oppress, displace, disrupt, and destroy Indigenous families, communities, and nations. It is a tool in the genocide of Indigenous peoples. Wow. Okay, so this is where I'm hoping to land with you today. We've gone through a few specific things, policing, courts, child welfare. We've got a report with 231 recommendations.

So what's going to come of this now? Yeah, there's some heavy concepts here that are in this report, but it's important not to lose sight of the women and their stories. There is a concern that the stories may be overshadowed by this focus on these big issues that this is raising, which are legitimate, but at the same time, we also can't forget that there's been a long-standing concern about the way that the inquiry went about gathering its information whether it was able to go far enough and you know some families that i've i've spoke to have said you know a lot of the findings are things we we know about and we you know we we've

always spoken about genocide but there's a concern that bringing up genocide is also going to be divisive at a time when they were hoping to see a call for more unity. So there's not a sort of one consensus on the reaction to this from the people who are most affected about this and whose stories were given to the inquiry commissioners to compile their report. Our next guest participated in the inquiry, Vanessa Brooks. I don't think it was just let down by the state. I think we also have to recognize that the world needs to know that aboriginals and indigenous women are not expendable, you know. So I think it's the country that needs to recognize in order for us to be the change makers, we all need to step up and be united in this. And Chantel, what do you think we're going to see with these 231 recommendations? These are recommendations made for, you know, the federal government, law enforcement, child welfare systems, the media, public at large. Canadians are something that, you know, I'm sure that the inquiry and the people who've participated would really want all Canadians to spend some time reading through. So those ones specific to Canadians, there are eight recommendations there, starting with denounce and speak out against

violence against Indigenous women, girls, and two-spirit LGBTQ people. And I think there's going to be a lot of grief and a lot of coming together tomorrow and in the days to come from Indigenous communities and those who are directly impacted by all these things. And I think they're going to be looking for commitments, of course, from government and institutions like the police, but I think also to be seen by Canadians. And, you know, much like the Truth and Reconciliation Commission,

the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, like there's a lot of content here. There's a lot of work that's gone into putting this together. And people are also going to be wanting to make sure this doesn't end up as, you know, the quote, report collecting dust on a shelf somewhere. Right. Thank you both so much. Thanks. Thank you. The National Inquiry's final report

is going to be released Monday morning to the federal government at a ceremony in Gatineau, Quebec. The prime minister is expected to be on hand. So will Indigenous leaders. We obviously couldn't get to all of what's in the report today, including the vast majority of recommendations. But we'll be sure to tweet at a link as soon as it's released. Before I say goodbye, one thing we didn't have time to get to in my conversation with Chantel and Jorge that I do want to point out. Some estimates have suggested that as many as 4,000 Indigenous women and girls have

been murdered or disappeared in the last several decades. The inquiry came to the conclusion that the true number may actually be impossible to ever establish, citing time constraints and issues with obtaining documents from police services, for example. That's it for today. I'm Jamie Poisson. Thanks for listening to FrontBurner. For more CBC Podcasts, go to cbc.ca slash podcasts. It's 2011 and the Arab Spring is raging. A lesbian activist in Syria starts a blog. She names it Gay Girl in Damascus. Am I crazy? Maybe.

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