MMIWG advocates say local, national reviews of policing could build trust

MMIWG advocates say an RCMP review of the investigation into a Reginawoman'sdeath and the national inquiry's review of police conduct could play a role in building trust between law enforcement and Indigenous people.

But doing so, they say, will take the right people and work beyond the scope of these reviews.

RCMPare going to review thepolice investigation into Nadine Machiskinic's death. She died after she fell 10 storeys down a laundry chute at the Delta Hotel in Regina on Jan. 10, 2015. Police weren't notified of the death for 60 hours, so the area where theIndigenous mother of four was found had been cleaned by staff by the time police arrived.

On Thursday, police Chief EvanBray said he requested the review because the family still had concerns with the case.

• Calls to reopen Nadine Machiskinic case as Regina police accused of 'botched job'

"It's unfortunate that the family had to push so hard to have this case examined really closely, but I think that the attempt at saying 'OK, we need to look at this. We need to have people feel comfortable about it,'I think is a good thing," said Marilyn Poitras, theMtisprofessor who recently resigned from her role as commissioner for theNational Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

"Police investigating police is the sub-sort of issue in this case," she said, adding that it's bound to come up because of the broken trust between Indigenous people and law enforcement.

Until that trust is built up, Poitras questions if the RCMP is the proper body to deal with the Machiskinic review.

"This isn't an issue of taking police out of the picture," she said."But when the actual investigation that you're speaking about has got so much baggage attached to it, I think everyone needs to figure out how to step back from that."

Poitras suggested there could be an alternate body to conductreviews, made up of of Indigenous professionals and members of the policing community.

"It's really important that the Indigenous community feels like they're being taken seriously."

Machiskinicdeath review 'apositive step'

DarleneOkemaysim-Sicotteis theco-chair of Women Walking Together (IskwewukE-wichiwitochik) a group that's been advocating forMMIWGfor morethan a decade.

"This is a very positive step for that particular case," she said.

She has followed theMachiskiniccase and said this review has the opportunity to build trust.

Okemaysim-SicottemetMachiskinic'sauntDeloresStevenson in Regina this week at a family support gathering. Theytalked about Stevenson'sunhappiness with- and criticismsof the way theMachiskiniccase was handled.

On Thursday, Stevenson told CBC News that shedidn't "really have confidence, but I can hope for the best outcome"for the review.

A common first response to a review likethis is usually skepticism because of historic experiences like the Indian Act, residential schools and the Sixties Scoop, said Okemaysim-Sicotte.

"The stereotype and prejudice towards police is not unfounded," she said. "Everyone's working hard to try to remedy that, but it's going to take a lot of work."

MMIWGinquiry to examine policeconduct

Police conduct will also now be reviewed as part of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

However, Poitrasis cautious because she doesn't know who will investigate the cases the inquiry puts forth.

"Who will they send those investigations on tois a very active question, and so isthere a body that anybody, any police organization, can be referred to that's got an arm's length component?" she asked.

"Until there's trust built with the community around police investigations on Indigenous issues there's got to be some middle meeting ground to say 'how could we do this so everybody feels they're being taking seriously?'"