Quebec aboriginal community 'touched' by launch of national inquiry

People in Quebec who have suffered because of violence against indigenous women are applauding the start of a national inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women.

"It's historic. I'm very touched," said Pénélope Guay, who runs an aboriginal women's shelter in Quebec City.

She founded the Missinak Community Home with her daughter, Nathalie Guay.

"Today, I feel there is hope that things will change, and we'll know what happened to those women," Nathalie Guay said.

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The RCMP found in 2014 nearly 1,200 documented cases of missing and murdered aboriginal women and girls between 1980 and 2012, a number the Mounties said exceeded previous public estimates.

A 2015 United Nations report found that young First Nations, Métis and Inuit women were five times more likely to die under violent circumstances than their non-aboriginal counterparts.

This afternoon, the federal government announced the launch of its two-phase inquiry.

The first phase of the inquiry would determine its objectives, focus and parameters.

"As a first step, we will meet with the families in the National Capital Region with the goal of hearing their views on the design of the inquiry and what it needs to achieve," Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould said at a news conference Tuesday on Parliament Hill.

"And over the next two months, we will hear from more families, other indigenous peoples, national aboriginal organizations and a range of front-line services workers and others.

Phase two will be the inquiry itself, which the government plans to launch in spring 2016.

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In Quebec City, aboriginal women who were victims of violence said they have been waiting years for this news.

"I am very relieved and very touched. I am very proud of the prime minister, and feel that aboriginal issues are finally moving forward," said Lydia Benjamin-Hervieux, who had a violent boyfriend and recently completed therapy aimed at aboriginal people who have a substance abuse problem.

Johnny Wylde, who also watched the announcement closely, hopes the inquiry can bring his family answers.

His daughter Sindy Ruperthouse, 45, has been missing from the western Quebec community of Val-D'Or for the last 18 months.

"I want to know what happened to my daughter. I want to know soon," he said.