Inquiry makes first visit to Yellowknife
More NWT community visits planned for 2018
Emelie Peacock
Northern News Services
Friday, August 25, 2017
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Family members, survivors and anyone else who wants to share their story can do so at the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls next week.
Marie Speakman is organizing three sharing circles on the same week the inquiry will visit Yellowknife. Speakman and Curtis Mandeville from the Department of Justice are available to assist family members of missing and murdered Indigenous women before, during and after the community visit. - NNSL file photo |
From Tuesday to Thursday, members of the inquiry will make their first visit to the city to make initial contact with those connected to the issue and help them prepare for a community hearing scheduled for Nov. 13.
Community liaison officer Melissa Carlick said the inquiry will visit other communities in the NWT next year, yet said no specifics could be released at this time.
The national inquiry, established in 2016, has a mandate to examine systemic causes of violence against Indigenous women and girls and make recommendations for solutions before December 2018.
The nationwide community visits are meant to give family members, survivors, grassroots organizations and elders a chance to give their views on how they want to be heard.
"Blood relatives, adopted family members, foster care relatives, close friends and family of the heart" are all considered family, according to an inquiry news release.
The visit will start at 9 a.m. The location is not made public for safety reasons, yet Carlick said those who wish to share their stories can contact her for details. Tiar Wilson, communications adviser with the inquiry, stated in an email family and survivors can walk in without registering, yet encouraged them to reach out in advance to the community liaison officers. For people who cannot attend in person, Wilson stated there will be a chance to tell their stories by phone.
Carlick said those coming to the visit can bring anyone they choose to support them during the process. She recommended they have an idea about what they would like to share, including information about the life of the woman or girl they are sharing about and any recommendations they have for the inquiry.
"They can bring pictures," she said, adding other documentation could be useful. "That's kind of what they need to bring to the hearing is that evidence piece, it's helpful to show who they're sharing about."
People who attend the community visit can expect to meet with a lawyer and a health-support worker from the inquiry.
"They will get a chance to tell their side of the story and then the lawyer will have a chance to ask questions," said Carlick. "Then they'll see if they want to participate in the hearing that's happening in November. So this is the first basic step in the process."
The health-support workers will be present to debrief after individuals have shared their story and connect them to local supports if needed.
The family support liaison unit, a joint program offered by the Department of Justice and Native Women's Association of the NWT, is now running and will remain open throughout the community visit and after. Family members and survivors can come to the Native Women's Association office downtown to seek out information from the RCMP, the coroners office and the courts or to seek other victim services such as counselling.
Marie Speakman, family support worker at the liaison unit, said there will also be three sharing circles open to family members and the public on Aug. 28, 29 and 30 at the Native Women's Association office.
