For the first time since its inception, the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls will hold a hearing in northern Manitoba.
A two-day hearing will be held on Mar. 20 and 21 in Thompson. Commissioner Michèle Audette, one of five commissioners with the inquiry, will attend.
It will be the second hearing of its kind in Manitoba – the other was held in Winnipeg in October 2017. More than 80 individual testimonials were heard during the event in Winnipeg.
First launched in December 2015, the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls is a program led by the federal government to determine the underlying causes of violence and crime against Aboriginal women, girls and LGBTQ2S people. Part of the inquiry involves hearing stories from survivors and people who have lost loved ones.
Aboriginal women are five times more likely than non-Aboriginal women to die of violence and 3.5 times more likely to be victims of domestic or sexual assault.
Around 1,350 families and survivors have registered to participate in the inquiry, including 160 families and survivors in Manitoba.
The Thompson hearing is months in the making, with the inquiry first identifying the need for a hearing in the north last October. A hearing was held in Rankin Inlet from Feb. 20 to 22.
Officials working with the inquiry have formally requested the federal government extend the group’s mandate for another two years.
