Calls to Justice: UTM Indigenous Centre hosting seminars on MMIWG Inquiry

The Canadian government may have issued the final report from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls but, for those affected, the struggle continues.

“We want people to think about how we are honouring and supporting these families still looking for missing loved ones,” says Tee Duke, UTM’s assistant director, Indigenous Initiatives Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Office. “To let them know they still matter.”

To expand understanding of the inquiry’s resulting 231 Calls for Justice — directed at governments, institutions, social service providers, industries and Canadians in general — the UTM Indigenous Centre is hosting a virtual lunch and learn on Wednesday, Jan. 20 from noon to 1 p.m. (EDT).

“We really encourage all folks to attend, to take this opportunity to learn more about the MMIWG inquiry and the movement,” says Duke. “We hope it will be a time of self-reflection to think about ways the community can work to meet these calls.”

The session will be led by Indigenous community educator and advocate Lorena Garvey.

“She provides community education on topics from urban Indigenous issues to supporting Two-Spirit people, so she is very well-versed in a lot of different topics and skills,” says Duke. “Which is good because we are going to try to pack as much information on the MMIWG movement into that hour as we can. Considering the final report is more than 1,200 pages, it’s a lot of information to cover.”

The inquiry was prompted in part by a 2011 Statistics Canada report, which estimated that, between 1997 and 2000, the rate of homicides for Indigenous women and girls was almost seven times higher than that for other females.

Under the guiding principle that “Our Women and Girls are Sacred,” the National Inquiry examined the security of First Nations, Métis and Inuit women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA (Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex and asexual) people through factors including sexual and family violence, negligence, accidents, suicide, institutional racism in health care, child welfare, policing and the justice system.

To get the most out of the lunch and learn session, Duke advises participants to look over the Inquiry’s executive summary.

“Know the why, the background, what the movement is trying to do,” she says. “The final report is so connected to the personal narrative and experience of the families and communities impacted.”

The National Inquiry ran from 2016 to 2019 and spoke to 2,380 family members, survivors of violence, experts and Knowledge Keepers (those taught traditional values by a community Elder) at hearings across Canada.

Funded by a Campus Safety Grant from the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, the Jan. 20 lunch and learn is an introduction for a larger two-day session to be held on Feb. 9 and 11 that will delve deeper into the MMIWG Inquiry Calls for Justice. That event will feature Qajaq Robinson and Karine Duhamel, who were commissioner and director research, respectively, for the National Inquiry.

“This series of events aims to raise awareness about the disproportionate violence and ongoing legacy of colonization still facing Indigenous women, girls, and two-spirit people”, says Nythalah Baker, UTM director equity, diversity, and inclusion. “Sessions will also provide the opportunity for bystanders to learn about actions to take individually and systemically to decolonize spaces and increase cultural and community safety”.

For more on the UTM Indigenous Centre and its events, visit https://www.utm.utoronto.ca/indigenous-centre/welcome-indigenous-centre.

If you require accommodation(s) to join the lunch and learn virtual event, email indigenous.utm@utoronto.ca.