With no date set for MMIW inquiry, Manitoba mother regrets voting Liberal

A Manitoba mother is questioning her decision to vote Liberal as one year of power for Prime Minister JustinTrudeauapproaches and still, there is no date set for an inquiry into Canada'smissing and murdered Indigenous girls and women.

Joyce Gabriel's 20-year-old daughter, Rocelyn, froze to death nearPortage la Prairie's recycling depot on Jan. 26, 2014.

• Rocelyn Gabriel's family wants answers in freezing death

"Mr. Trudeau at the time said, 'Yes. I support the families and I am going to put on an inquiry.'I think he just wanted the families' votes," Gabrielsaid.

"Almost every Aboriginal person here we went and voted for him. Now, I think it was a mistake."

Gabriel said she was not surprised to learn that Manitoba had not officially committed to the inquiry. Politicians, she said, will never understand the plight of Indigenous families who have lost loved ones until they step into their shoes.

"Without being in our shoes, [Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister] will never understand," she said.

Disappointment acrossCanada

The desperation, hurt and disappointment in Gabriel's voice was echoed Thursdayby First Nations chiefs who also pointed tothe delay in the federal government's commitment to hold a national inquiry.

During the final day of an annual general assemble meeting in Niagara Falls, Ont., the chiefs called onthe provinces and Ottawa to stop putting off the task.

• First Nations chiefs urge holdout provinces, Ottawa to stop 'dragging feet' on MMIW inquiry

Negotiations continue

Manitoba Progressive Conservative Justice Minister and Attorney General Heather Stefanson saidthe province has committed to the national inquiry, but continues to negotiate with the federal government to make sure the initiative will not cover ground already dealt with by past inquiries, including the inquiry into the death of Phoenix Sinclair.

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"That way, there is more money freed up to actually go towards implementing whatever recommendations come forward," Stefanson said.

Led by commissioner Ted Hughes, the $14-million public inquiry one of the biggest in Manitoba's history examined how Manitoba's child and family services (CFS) system failed five-year-old Phoenix before she was murdered by her mother and stepfather in 2005.

Consultation with Indigenous peopleon the inquiry's terms of reference are also a priority for Stefanson, she said.

"We want to make sure that they see these terms of reference. They may have something to add to it," she said.

"I am very concerned that there hasn't been enough consultation there."

Stefanson insists the inquiry's commissioner be from Manitoba a province with an Indigenous population of 17 per cent and for many,ground zeroof the Canadian crisis. Stefanson said she is hopeful thatCarolyn Bennett, minister of Indigenous andNorthern Affairs, will agree to a commissioner from the province.

Bernadette Smith, whose sister, Claudette Osborne vanished from Winnipeg's North End in 2008, seconds Stefanson's opinion.

"I know that Manitoba and families across the country would liketo see [NDP MLA]Nahanni Fontaine appointed," or Smith added, a member of a family personally affected by the issue.

• Manitobans Nahanni Fontaine, Bernadette Smith in Ottawa for 'historic' MMIW inquiry news
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Before being elected,Fontaine was Manitoba's special advisor on aboriginal women's issues and a community leader.

Despite these sticking points, Stefanson disputes thatManitoba is last to officially commit to the inquiry.

"I think there's been many provinces that have not yet completed that process," she said, declining to name any in particular.

Meanwhile, Bennett said in a speech to the chiefs this week the federal government was "very close" to announcing the launch of thenational inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, but did not give a date.