After receiving numerous criticisms from the families of victims for being too “bureaucratic”, Canada’s inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women has faced yet another roadblock; its Executive Director has announced her resignation.
Just a day before Canada’s 150th anniversary celebrations, denounced as 150 years of colonization and genocide by Indigenous communities, Michèle Moreau released a memo citing “personal reasons” for her departure.
The lawyer will be leaving her post on July 21.
Other major players in the inquiry’s committee have also resigned in the last few months.
Michael Hutchinson, the communications director, walked out in February, only to have his replacement, Sue Montgomery depart in May.
Tanya Kappo, a lawyer and one of the organizers of the Idle No More movement, also left on June 15.
Adding to the Canada 150 narrative by honoring missing and murdered Indigenous women #Canada150 pic.twitter.com/R9JfpWH11R
— Christine M'Lot (@christinemlot) July 1, 2017
Moreau said in her memo that she “will always be an ally”.
The inquiry’s proceedings, announced last summer, only began the end of May in Whitehorse, hearing from just a small roster of families before taking a break for the summer.
The inquiry has also been criticized for not communicating with the victims’ families and survivors.
In April, the hashtag #ResettheInquiry saw activists tweet about the need to revamp the entire process and begin again.
Many advocates would like to see increased accountability, transparency and consultations with the families affected.
When the inquiry was first launched in August of last year, there were already concerns about how it would be conducted.
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Pamela Palmater, an Indigenous activist and professor at Ryerson University, in an email to teleSUR at the time, said that while it was good that Canada was taking action on its commitment to the inquiry, neither its terms of reference nor its choice of commissioners was made done in collaboration with Indigenous groups.
"We need to get at the root causes of why this situation exists in the first place, whether that be poverty, marginalization, discrimination and address those in a substantive way," she had argued.
Palmater’s critiques also addressed how the inquiry, without the specific language of racism, sexism and violence, obscured the reality of sexualized violence against Indigenous women.