'High hopes' for MMIWG national inquiry in Edmonton

Every day for the past 18 years, Stephanie Harpe has carried an unrelenting anguish from the death of her mother.

Ruby Anne McDonaldwas found dead in an Edmonton apartment building in 1999.

Harpe, now 40,has since dedicated herself to honour missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls and is set to speak in Edmonton on Tuesday with a team from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

"I am brave. I am strong. I am a healed woman," Harpe said.

Harpe will be oneof 58 witnesses who will share their experiences with the inquiry team in Edmonton.

"I'm honoured and I'm ready," she said.

Opening ceremonies for the event take place Monday afternoon with the lighting of a sacred fire.

The inquiry is investigating thenational tragedyof the deaths and disappearances of Indigenous women and girls across Canada. RCMP haveidentified 1,200 victims between 1980 and 2012, though some experts believe the real number is much higher.

"I have high hopes," Harpe saidof the inquiry, which handed down an interim report last week.

The 119-page report released initial findings and recommendations promising to expose some "hard truths about the devastating impacts of colonization, racism and sexism."

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Harpesaid these impacts were felt in her mother's case. She said police were too slow to consider foul play. She wants to see concrete suggestions from the inquiry, which she said can build trust in Indigenous communities.

"What we need is RCMP, city police, judges, lawyers and the federal government to have Indigenous representation in all of these areas," she said.

'Poverty, discrimination and isolation'

While the inquiry has made it clear it may not be able to find the answers on individual cases, it does have the authority to examine police practices.

It's also looking at the impacts of the child welfare system, in addition to the treatment of Indigenous people in places like hospitals and prisons.

They're all issues Muriel Stanley Venne has been raising for years as the president and founder of the Edmonton-based Institute for the Advancement of Aboriginal Women.

"In 2004 and 2005, we visited Aboriginal women right across Canada," Stanley Venne said. "There was hardly any difference in what they said [then].

"What came out was poverty, discrimination and isolation."

The Alberta government is keeping a close eye on the inquiry.

"We will look at all the recommendations and make decisions about ways we can be supportive," said Richard Feehan, Alberta's minister of Indigenous relations.

Feehan said Alberta is already making headway on some of the key themes raised in the inquiry's interim report.

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Feehan said the education ministry's plan to tackle racism will have far-reaching impact across the province. Hebelieves the ministry will make recommendations todeal with some long-time complaints about the justice system.

"Many of [the recommendations] will, of course, speak directly to the issue of racism or other difficulties that may be experienced in the legal system,"Feehansaid. The recommendations from the education ministry's review are expected by the end of 2017.

Indigenous people 'continually failed'

While the inquiry has been dogged by some claims it's not moving quickly enough on its assignment, chief commissioner Marion Bullersaid her team is handling a painstaking task in the right way.

"Remember, nobody has done this before,"Bullertold CBC News. "We're in all provinces and territories."

Bullersaidthe progress already made is something to be proud of, especially given the trust the inquiry is gaining with families across the country.

"We're hearing from people who, for the first time, are disclosing what has happened to them," she said.

Harpesaid she's also staying positive and hopesthe inquiry leads to the kind of change she's been pushing for.

"I'm also guarded and realistic because our people have been continually failed," she said.

After Monday's opening ceremony, the inquiry will hear from families on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

The deadline for the inquiry's final report is Dec. 31, 2018.