New Winnipeg police representative will work with families of missing, murdered Indigenous women and girls

The Winnipeg Police Service has hired a new representative who will work with the families of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. 

Angie Tuesday has been hired as the new family support and resource advocate for Winnipeg police, the service announced Wednesday.

She will work directly with families to help answer questions, connect them with appropriate agencies and services, and ensure they're supported with culturally safe resources in their communities, the police service said.

She says ultimately, her goal is to take a different approach to helping families.

"A big change doesn't happen right away," she said. "But it's the way we work with families on an individual level that can bring that change through the service." 

Tuesday will work alongside officers in the missing persons, counter-exploitation, homicide and historical homicide units. 

She has been with Manitoba Justice as a victim services worker for the past nine years, supporting people who have experienced domestic violence and other violent crimes. 

"I think that's why I took this job," she said. "It was a good opportunity to share some of that with folks and ensure that families are being heard and supported." 

She also hopes to bring her lived experience to her new job. Tuesday, who was born and raised in Winnipeg and is a member of Big Grassy First Nation in Ontario, lost a loved one to violence.

"I want to come at it from a trauma-informed and a culturally safe place," she said. "In a way, that's going to be meaningful to those families."

That could happen through meeting with families in informal settings or in ceremony, Tuesday said. She wants to see officers involved in those experiences, too.

"For me, anyways, it shows their sense of purpose, a sense of meaning, and the commitment the officers are taking." 

Calls for changes to policing

The creation of the position comes more than two years after the final report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls called for a transformation of policing and justice systems. 

Among the report's 231 recommendations was a call for police to acknowledge that the relationship between Indigenous people and police has been defined by colonialism, racism, bias and discrimination. 

It also called for improved communication between police and the families of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

Winnipeg police Chief Danny Smyth informed the Winnipeg Police Board in December 2020 that the position was being created.

During the four days of testimony for the national MMIWG inquiry in 2018, Smyth apologized for the way law enforcement has treated Indigenous people in Winnipeg.

In a statement, the chief said Tuesday will play an important role.