Yellowknife (Sep 08/04) - The Canadian justice system consistently "devalues" the lives of aboriginal crime victims, as evidenced by hundreds of unsolved murders and missing persons cases, the head of a national women's organization said.

"There is a double standard," said Kukdookaa Terri Brown, president of the Native Women's Association of Canada. "The lives of aboriginal women have been devalued."

Premier Handley: "We're not doing what we would like to do," he said. "We don't have enough money."

Brown was speaking in Yellowknife on Aug. 31, to publicize the Sisters in Spirit campaign -- an effort launched to draw attention to the nearly 500 missing or murdered aboriginal women across Canada.

Six of the cases involve women from the NWT, Brown said, as she called on the federal government to establish a $10 million fund to support research and education related to violence against aboriginal women.

"We must honour our children, women and grandmothers and never forget our people who are suffering," she said.

Brown met with the representatives from the Native Women's Association of the NWT and discussed several topics, including the treatment of women in the territories' smaller communities.

Women are frequently victims of physical and sexual abuse, said Brown, who asked the territorial and federal governments to pump more money into "healing" programs.

Premier Joe Handley, who attended the Aug. 31 press conference, candidly admitted the territorial government isn't doing enough to deal with violence in the communities.

"We're not doing what we would like to do," he said. "We don't have enough money."

He renewed his call for a resource revenue sharing agreement with Ottawa, saying the money could go towards drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs.

Another hurdle the government needs to overcome is the incompatibility between the criminal justice system and traditional forms of aboriginal justice, Brown said.

The individualistic approach of the criminal code -- where offenders are punished and removed from society -- clashes with the collective and reconciliatory approach of aboriginal justice, she said.

"At present, there is a lack of representation for support of (victims of) family violence in the aboriginal voice," she added.

In addition to challenges facing victims, aboriginal offenders are also subject to a country-wide double standard, Brown said.

She pointed to a case last month where a non-aboriginal, residential school supervisor from Inuvik received a suspended sentence for a series of sex crimes dating back to the 1960s.

Brown figures an aboriginal offender would likely have received a much harsher sentence.

"When an aboriginal person comes before the justice system, it almost invariably leads to jail," she said.

Pipeline woes

Brown also talked about the development of the MacKenzie Valley Pipeline and the social problems that are likely to accompany an influx of outsiders and money into smaller communities.

"There are many concerns about the potential impacts of the pipeline," she said. "All the added stressors will lead to further breakdown of the families and the communities."

Handley said the territorial government is in the process of compiling a "business plan" to help deal with the socio-economic impacts of the coming pipeline.

"We are going through a tremendous amount of change in the NWT," said Handley. "We spend time talking about resource revenue sharing, but to deal with the issues people are facing in the communities."

But the ultimate solution to violence against women doesn't lie with government alone, said Cec Heron, vice-president of the Native Women's Association of the NWT.

She said large multinational corporations -- who stand to make millions from the pipeline -- should contribute to improving the situation along with community members themselves.

"Everybody should play a role," she said. "It's a problem that affects us all."