A two-day symposium in Regina wants to define Saskatchewan’s role in the upcoming inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women.
The independent inquiry will take two years to complete and will cost the government an estimated $53.86 million. On Thursday and Friday, a group gathered at the Travelodge in Regina to determine the best way to incorporate Saskatchewan into the inquiry.
“We all came together to talk about the national inquiry, in terms of how we could all engage,” said Judy Hughes, vice president of the Saskatchewan Aboriginal Women’s Circle Corporation.
“We want to find some kind of Saskatchewan approach to what our roles will be toward the national inquiry.”
Dawn Lavell-Harvard, president of the Native Women’s Association of Canada, travelled from Ontario to take part in the discussion.
“It’s really important that we come out when our provincial affiliates are having these kind of events to show our support, to be able to hear the concerns of the women at the grassroots level,” she said.
Saskatchewan is the first province to organize a symposium like this one. Provinces are responsible for many important aspects of the inquiry, including policing and child welfare.
“The experience of women, the challenges they’re facing, there (are) commonalities across the country. But, there’s also so much regional diversity,” Lavell-Harvard said. “That’s why having those provincial partnerships is going to be key to making sure we get the information we need out of this inquiry.”
For those attending the symposium, the focus was on collaboration between people, businesses, organizations and governments.
"Collaboration and working together is crucial because that's what's going to drive us to the outcome that we want,” Hughes said. “(That outcome) is to really look at systems and systemic issues and how we can change them to improve them.”
The inquiry is scheduled to begin on Sept. 1 and is scheduled to run until Dec. 31, 2018.
