MMIW inquiry must be vigilant when it comes to police, families say
‘It does affect us and it does affect other families’ Will Starr says
Will Starr still thinks about the response his family got from police when they reported his sister, Jennifer Catcheway, missing in 2008.
"The RCMP brushed us off and told us to come back in a week and that she was out drinking, celebrating her birthday. They didn't help us much," he said.
Catcheway made a phone call to her mother on her 18th birthday saying she was on her way home to Portage la Prairie, Man. The call was traced to Grand Rapids, Man., six hours from the family home. According to family members, Jennifer was seen for the last time getting into a truck on her birthday, and may have been dropped off or left on a highway.
Eight years later, the family still doesn't have answers or much optimism in the actions of Canada's police force. Starr said looking at police across the country must be a critical part of the inquiry into Canada's missing and murdered Indigenous women, launched Wednesday morning.
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While police are not mandated right into the terms of reference of the inquiry, Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett promised systemic issues in police forces will be examined.
A preview of the inquiry mandate prompted criticism from advocates ahead of the launch, who noted the role police and government child and family welfare groups play in MMIW cases was conspicuously missing from the guiding documents.
The experiences of dealing with police or investigating officers are always something the families of missing and murdered Indigenous women bring up. Many times they say they were dismissed, ignored, or just kept in the dark.
Police departments across Canada got a failing grade for their efforts at solving cases of missing and murdered indigenous women, according to CBC interviews with more than 110 family members. Families were asked to rate the quality of the police investigation in each case, on a scale of one to 10, with 10 being excellent. The average rating was 2.8.
"That's one of the major issues we would like to be addressed because it does affect us and it does affect other families as well as to how cases are conducted," he said.
Although Starr said he still has many questions about the inquiry he said "this is the start point of action actually being done but the real work will come after the recommendations have been completed." Although he added he doesn't expect it to bring his family closure.
"I don't think it will find my sister necessarily," he said. "It will take a miracle or for someone to come forward or say where she is, But as for others, I really hope to see prevention take place, actual actions to stop this national tragedy."
Kyle Kematch said he's not optimist that the inquiry will do much to change systemic issues within the country's police force.
"They are going to say it is nothing to do with it and they are doing the best they can … it's not their fault or anybody else's fault," Kematch said.
Kematch's sister Amber Guiboche went missing in November 2011. He and others have been combing the bottom of the Red River in Winnipeg with large hooks dangled off the backs of boats since 2015 as part of Drag the Red, an initiative dedicated to finding evidence that could help solve cases of missing or murdered people.
"I don't think it will make a difference," he said.
In CBC's survey of the families of missing and murdered Indigenous women about 70 per cent of family members expressed the desire for a national inquiry.
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The terms of the inquiry said it will examine the factors driving a systemic, high rate of violence against Indigenous women and girls, and the role of various institutions, including police forces, governments and coroners' offices.
It also said commissioners can compel any witness to testify, including police.
"I'm surprised when we hear words like compelling officers to testify," said George Van Mackelbergh with the Winnipeg Police Association.
"To me that's a concern because it appears, anyway with the little I know, that it's kind of pandering to the public. The fact is professional police officers and their duties are compelled to speak already, they are witness officers."
Van Mackelbergh added that with the RCMP report on missing and murdered aboriginal women, a lot of issues were already addressed.
"I am not sure what type of systemic racism they are alleging but I know that missing persons' calls are all treated the same, for the most part, at least certainly to my knowledge," he said. "I mean that's what the inquiry is for."
Van Mackelbergh said he hopes the inquiry focuses more on solutions and a focus on "how to prevent this from happening in these communities."
With files from Jillian Taylor