Police speaking at MMIWG inquiry must 'stand by their word': advocate

Gladys Radekdabbed her eyes, gazing upon the statue erected in Saskatoon in honour ofmissing and murdered Indigenous women.

She didn't see it in person.

Animageof it was shown as part of former Saskatoon police Chief CliveWeighill'stestimony Wednesday during the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls atthe Hotel Saskatchewan in Regina.

"That monument just took my breath away when I saw it and Ijust cried. I started crying right away when I (saw) it. It was so beautiful," Radeksaid afterward, in a room where the smell ofsweetgrassfrom a smudgeearlier in the day still lingered.

• Statue honouring missing and murdered Indigenous women unveiled in Saskatoon

Her niece, Tamara LynnChipman, was last seen in 2005 on a stretch of road in Northern B.C. known as "the Highway of Tears."

"A few months went by and there was no answers."

Today, there are still no answers forRadekorChipman'snow 14-year-old son.

"I feel stuck you know I want to know where my niece is," Radeksaid. "I want to know where she's buried so we can bring her home."

Cree artist Lionel Peyachew created the statue that was unveiled in 2017 outside the police headquarters in Saskatoon.

"It means a lot to me, for towns like Saskatoon and other towns that have a memorial, a monument, to honour our missing and murdered women because there's so many."

The hearing, which began Monday, is focused on policing.RCMPhavesaid close to1,200Indigenous women were killed between 1980 and 2012, butRadekechoes other activistswho have said thenumber is higher than 4,000.

"This is a genocidal problem. This is asystemic problem."

Radek is a member of the National Family Advisory Circle, a group of volunteerswho provide advice to the inquiry's commissioners. They are family members of those at its heart.

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"The inquiry is not the end-all be-all to end violence against women. The inquiry is to divulge on the issues," she said, adding she is hopeful it is an opportunity to build relationships with government and police forces.

Radek said she's heard policesay this week that they want to build relationships with Indigenous families.

"They need to stand by their word," she said.

Earlier this week,RCMPCommissioner BrendaLuckiapologized to familiesand said theRCMPcould have done better in the past.

Radek said the hearing is a step toward police accountability. She saidpolice admitting they had done wrong in the pastwas a good "baby step."

"Are they willing to work with us now? Maybe. Right now the way I'm feeling right now is maybe it's just lip service."

History of advocacy

Radeksaid she began advocating for missing women when her niece disappeared, but soonrealized other girls in the area were missing, too. Some had been foundmurdered.

She said she firstbecame frustrated by what seemed like a lack of action regarding the Highway of Tears, but then she realized it the issue spanned the nation.

"A vision came to me about wanting to raise more awareness,because of the numbers and the families that were coming forward saying you know I've got a loved one missing," she said.

Radek said she walked from Vancouver to Ottawa in 2008 to raise awareness.

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"It just seemed like nobody wanted to work on it. Nobody wanted to do anything about it and we just had enough," she said.

"That was our mission: was to demand a national public inquiry from the federal government.

Radek said they wanted a public inquiry because the issues of missing women were complex andinvolved many factors like policing, socio-economic issues, residential schools and the Sixties Scoop.

Radek's time with the inquiry has affirmed her goal to promote positive change.

"I think we opened the eyes of the world with this inquiry, Ithink that holding people to account is, I think,first and foremost in our mind."