The province of Quebec will give commissioners in the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women inquiry full powers to do a thorough investigation, Quebec Justice Minister Stephanie Vallee said Wednesday.
Last October, the crisis in Val d'Or pushed the issue of violence against native women into the spotlight in Quebec with explosive allegations SQ officers had sexually abused women from indigenous communities.
It prompted calls for Quebec to launch its own widespread inquiry.
Earlier this month, the federal government launched a national inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women.
Vallee said Wednesday the federally-appointed commissioners will have all the tools they need for thorough investigation in this province and will be able to call on parties to testify.
“I think it was important for us to give full power to the commissioners through the Quebec legislation to look at the cause of violence and the systemic violence that occurs against women,” she said.
That will include looking into the relationship aboriginal communities have with Quebec police forces.
“I can't imagine how it is when you call the police to say that your daughter has disappeared and no one reacts. There's no reaction. Because they think, ‘Oh, she'll come back.’ It's not normal,” said Vallee.
Quebec's Native Affairs Minister Geoff Kelley said a single, national commission is the way to go.
“There are all these cross-jurisdictional questions, so to have one inquiry where we can look at the whole life of these women living in situations of difficulty, I think is far more effective than multiplying the investigations,” said Kelley.
There's also the human factor.
“These are very heavy, very emotional situations and these families have gone through hell and to ask them to go through hell twice because we want an investigation - to me it's much more important to bring everything together.”
