It’s no secret that Canada’s Indigenous Peoples and the RCMP have a fraught relationship. Nowhere is that more obvious than in the final report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. RCMP detachments across the country come in for particular scorn for failing to take seriously the disappearance of Indigenous females when reported by their families or other community members. According to witnesses who testified at the MMIWG Inquiry, RCMP staff and officers were either indifferent or insulting when family members reported that a mother, sister, daughter or friend was missing. Many of the missing were characterized as “drunks” or “runaways out partying” or “prostitutes unworthy of follow-up.” Families often took to conducting their own searches when RCMP took no notice or delayed an investigation.

Source: thestar July 02, 2019 03:56 UTC