N.W.T. could get RCMP unit dedicated to unsolved murder and missing person files

There are 71 unsolved, historical cases of missing and murdered persons in the Northwest Territories,and this year's territorial budget has proposed to create anRCMP unit dedicated to working onthose files.

The unit would consist of three members who would work to organize, catalogue, and investigate cold cases of missing and murdered persons in the territory. These cases can include instances of suspicious deaths, unsolved homicides, missing personsand unidentified human remains.

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Police say 63 of the casesare still open investigations, and some date back to 1985.

"The majority of the 63 open investigations into missing persons involve reports of persons wandered off, lost, or presumed drowned," said a spokesperson for the Department of Justice in an email.

An advocate for Indigenous people, GailCyr, said she supports the idea of implementing the unit.

"Families of the Northwest Territories certainly do need to have support in knowing that the case involving their missing family member will be brought up and reviewed and they can be updated on what has been happening," saidCyr.

Theproposed territorial budget has $304,000 dedicated to creating and implementing theRCMPhistorical case unit.

Sandra Lockhart, an advocate for Indigenous womenin Yellowknife, said she supports the unit but wants to see it done the right way.

"It's vital," said Lockhart. "[But] they have to sit down and actually talk with the people that are going to be affected."

Shewants the territorial government to speak with Indigenous people before implementing a program.

Currently the Major Crimes Unitisresponsible for these files, but having a separate unit would mean having dedicated resources on the cases, according to the Department of Justice.

Some of the work would include making sure the cases were documented to current day standards, so the information is preserved.

The budget will be debated over the coming weeks.

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