Concerns raised about liaison hiring for missing and murdered inquiry

Thenational inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls says an Atlantic Canadian liaison should soon be in place, afterconcerns were raised that no one had yet been hired.

One of those who has raised concerns is Cheryl Maloney, thepresident of the Eastern Door Indigenous Women's Association. She told CBC's Information Morning on Wednesday that a liaison in Yukon was hired just three weeks before the family hearings were set to start there.

"That is a problem," she said, adding that she doesn't want to see that happen here. "You can't rush" something like this, she said. "It has to be done properly."

Director of communications for the inquiry, Berne Bolton,hassince confirmed that theteam hasan Atlantic Canadian candidate in place, theyare just waiting for the person'ssecurity clearance to come through before they areofficially hired. That should take a few weeks, shesaid.

Timeline

Maloney said she wants to see the Atlantic Canadian representative working on the ground for at least two months "before the inquiry rolls into town."

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There is no published schedule for those hearings aside from the first one in Whitehorse at the end of May but Bolton confirmed that commissioners won't hear from families in other parts of the country until the fall.

Commissioners asking the 'wrong people'

Maloney, who has been advocating on behalf of missing and murdered Indigenous women for years,both nationally and internationally,said the inquiry has done a poor job keeping the community informed.

"Nobody knows what's going on," she said.

As president of the Nova Scotia Native Women's Association, Maloney said she was surprised that nobody from the inquiry had been in touch with her organization in any official way. "They're going to the wrong people," she said.

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Maloney said she wants to see a series of roundtable discussions take place across the country with grassroots organizers, as opposed to "experts" chosen by the commissioners.

"My expertise comes from putting up posters for Loretta Saunders," Maloney said, remembering the 26-year-old Inuk woman from Labrador who was murdered in a Halifax apartment in 2014.

She said staff with the inquiry need to reach out to the people on the ground "and hear what they have to say."