Inuk artist Annie Pootoogook remembered at MMIW vigil on Parliament Hill

As Ottawa police continue to investigate the suspicious circumstances ofAnnie Pootoogook'sdeath, the Inuk artist'simagewas front and centre among photosof missing and murdered Indigenous women Tuesday at avigil on Parliament Hill.

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"I wish I wasn't here. I wish Annie was standing here," Pootogook'ssecond cousinSytukieJoamietold the crowd at the annualvigil, which includeddozens of members of the Inuit community, on the steps in front of Centre Block.

Pootoogookwas found dead in theRideauRiver nearBordeleauPark on Sept. 19 an immediate red flag, saidJoamie, becauseof her fear of water.

The Ottawa Police Service'smajor crime unit, which investigateshomicides, is probingwhat they describe as "suspicious elements" about her death but they have not classified it as a homicide.

The force has also comeunder fire, however,after asergeant waswas accused of making racist comments about the artist's death online, claiming that "many Aboriginals have very short lifespans, talent or not" and that it was "not a murder case." He remains on active duty.

Racist remarks are worse than a live bullet.- SytukieJoamie, Annie Pootoogook's relative

Joamiesaid the police response is an example of "systemic racism" and suggested that there would "be a thoroughinvestigation"if a white woman had been found in the river.

Pootoogook'sfamily maintains she was murdered.

"We're tired of being hurt. Tired of the pain,"Joamiesaid after the vigil. "Racist remarks are worse than a live bullet."

Prime minister called on to intervene in case

Joamie also called on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to intervene in Pootoogook's case without knowing Trudeau had joined the crowd and was standing directly behind him.

"Mr. Prime Minister should be doing something about that," Joamiesaid, adding that Ottawa Police Chief Charles Bordeleau "basically never did anything" about the sergeant accused of making racist comments.

Bordeleau told CBC News last week that the comments were "inappropriate" and that he had spoken to the officer accused of making them butrefused to take him off duty.

"We'll be working with him and our officers will be interviewing him and ascertaining exactly the circumstances and the context around why he would make such, such, these comments," Bordeleausaid

The chiefdrewcriticism for not calling the comments racist.

Joamielauded the factthat the government had followed through on its promise to launch an inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women, but added that Trudeau needs to turn that inquiry into "real actions."

"You cannot go through the political motions and appease us," he said. "You have to put your words in action."

'We still feel like we're forgotten'

Laurie Odjick, whose 16-year-old daughter Maisy disappeared from Maniwaki, Que., in September 2008 along with 17-year-old Shannon Alexander, also spoke at Tuesday's vigil.

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Odjick expressed frustration that nothing would come of the inquiry, which was announced in August,and shared concerns that some Indigenous Canadians were being excluded from the process.

"I, for one, am tired of standing in front of a house of broken promises that they have given us over and over," Odjick said, holdingphotos of both teens.

"We gathered as families and we shared our journeys and ourpain and our grief. And yet we still feel like we're forgotten. No answers. Shame on them."

Odjick alsochallenged politicians to imagine that their loved ones had either gone missing or been murdered.

"Do you think you've done enough? Give us an inquiry, make us go away, shut our mouths. 'We did something for you,' they say. 'Here you go.'" she said.

Trudeau, who addressed the crowd following the speeches, said he understood theimpatience over the lengthy inquiry process.

But he emphasized the inquiry is onepart of a much larger effort at reconciliation, necessitated by the failures of previous governments"to uphold the values and principleswhich they were supposed to defend" in their relationships with Indigenous peoples.

"This is not something that we're going to change overnight or in a week or in a month or in a year. It's something we're going to have to commit to work on every day to fix, to improve, to build, to repair broken trusts and give back hope," Trudeau said.

Trudeau, who wasaccompanied by the ministers tasked to oversee the inquiry Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett, Justice MinisterJodyWilson-Raybouldand Status of Women Minister PattyHajdudid not mention Pootoogook's case specifically.

Bennett told the crowdthat the inquiry is tasked with looking at many reports and documents, which takes time to get through.

Wilson-Raybouldalsosaid the government is working hard to transform the way it engages with Indigenous people.

"There is no relationship that's more important to our government than the one with Indigenous people," she said.