The Highway of Tears is emblematic of a phenomenon that has plagued Canada for decades: violence against indigenous women. In 2014, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police conducted a statistical analysis of 1,181 cases, including 1,017 murders and 164 missing women, and concluded that while indigenous women make up only 4.3 percent of the Canadian population, they accounted for 16 percent of murdered women and 11.3 percent of missing females. The other commissioners, three women and a man, include indigenous lawyers and the former head of the Native Women’s Association of Canada. The government of Justin Trudeau moved ahead Wednesday on a key election promise, appointing a five-member inquiry commission to study the cases of more than 1,000 missing and murdered indigenous women and girls, including the 18 from the Trans-Canada Highway. The inquiry, with a budget of $41 million, will be headed by Marion Buller, the first indigenous female judge in British Columbia.

Source: Washington Post August 04, 2016 06:56 UTC