North

Yellowknife hearings for MMIWG national inquiry postponed

The hearings in Yellowknife for the national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG) will now be in January 2018.

The hearings were originally scheduled for the week of Nov. 13

A display of missing and murdered Indigenous women of the N.W.T. from a sharing circle in May. The formal hearings in Yellowknife will now take place in January 2018. (Kate Kyle/CBC)

The hearings in Yellowknife for the national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG) will now be in January 2018, according to a news release.

The hearings were originally scheduled for the week of Nov. 13. The release doesn't specify a reason for the delay. 

No firm date has been announced for the rescheduled hearings. The news release states that the inquiry's community relations team "is engaged with the community and will coordinate with our Logistics team to determine a date that works for all those who want to participate."

The national inquiry has been conducting hearings across the country since this fall, starting in Whitehorse. 

The inquiry was formed to examine the systemic causes of violence directed against Indigenous women and girls in Canada and find some way to memorialize the missing and murdered victims — which some say could number as high as 4,000.

Despite high hopes, the inquiry has been met with distrust by family members and grassroots organizations. Several staffers have also resigned since the inquiry launched.