Families of missing and murdered indigenous women gathered on Parliament Hill Tuesday to voice their anger over the lack of progress in the inquiry.
“We’re losing our loved ones even now,” said victim’s family member Jocelyn Wabano-Iahtail. “We’ve put a lot of work into this and to have it fall away the way it has, that has been a source of frustration.”
The inquiry launched in Aug. 2016 has spent more than $5 million, but family members told CTV News they’re concerned about the delays and lack of communication.
“For each month that passed there was an uncomfortable silence, almost a bit of secrecy taking place with this organization,” said Francyne Joe, interim president of the Native Women’s Association of Canada. “We need to ensure there is no secrecy, there needs to be transparency and inclusion and we need to ensure the families are being put forth first.”
Last week about 40 families and indigenous activists wrote a letter criticizing the inquiry and the commissioner, calling it disorganized, slow and culturally insensitive.
“If we have been heard and we were being seen, we would see that in terms of action” said Wabano-Iahtail.
Families and indigenous groups said they are ready to take action if needed.
“We are prepared to take blockades against this inquiry,” said family member John Fox.
However, lead commissioner Marion Buller defended the process.
“It takes time to do it right and we intend to do it right,” she said at press meeting last week. “That’s the only way that’s fair to honour the spirits of the lost women and girls and honour the spirits of the survivors.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also defended the commissioners.
“We trust the commissioners to do the work that we laid out that they need to do,” he said.
However, sources close to the inquiry have said the fall deadline for the inquiry is unlikely to be achieved as there are a lot of problems, such as taking on a too-broad mandate, a lot of red tape and a lack of leadership.
Jamie Koebel knows the dangers faced by indigenous women -- she ran away from home after being sexually assaulted as a young girl. She is still holding out hope that the inquiry will change things for future generations.
“I just want women to have a safe place to tell our story and that our story is going to count towards some changes,” she said.
With files from CTV’s Mercedes Stephenson in Ottawa
