Memorial March Committee cites concerns ahead of MMWI meetings in Vancouver

Vancouver's Women's Memorial March Committeesays it's concerned preliminary meetings for anational inquiry into missing and murdered indigenouswomen aren't focusing on the right issues.

The federal government has begun to move forward with a national inquiry on the issueone of the Liberals' key election promises.

Planning sessions will be held in Vancouver on Wednesday, andwere most recently organized in Whitehorse, where Indigenous and Northern Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett and two other federal ministers heardfrom the family of missing and murdered women about how the inquiry should be structured.

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"We're concerned about the focus on the need for healing of the families,"said FayBlaney, a memberof the Women's Memorial March Committee.

"A significant portion of the women that have disappeared or have been murdered are not attached to family."

Blaney works with urbanindigenouswomen as part of the Downtown Eastside Women's Centre, as well as the Memorial March Committee.

She said shewants the government to examine the discrimination still faced every day by women on the Downtown Eastside.

"There's a lot of attention being paidto this issue of the murdered and missing, and we were doing it a time when no one was listening,"said Blaney.

"Nowsuddenlythere's seems to be jostling for attention,and we just wanted to assert ourauthorityandthatwe have a deep andlong-standingunderstandingof this issue."

The Women's Memorial March Committeehas raised the issue of violence against women for 26 years, "throughout the Dark Ages," said Blaney, "duringthe time when no one else was listening."

Blaney said thecommittee, as part of a larger coalition formed in response to B.C.'s own inquiry led by Wally Oppal, will be attending a meeting with Bennett on Tuesdayafternoon.

The committee will be holding a press conference detailing its concerns later on Tuesday morning.