Police speaking at MMIWG inquiry must 'stand by their word': advocate
RCMP commissioner apologized to families on day 1 of hearing focused on policing
Gladys Radek dabbed her eyes, gazing upon the statue erected in Saskatoon in honour of missing and murdered Indigenous women.
She didn't see it in person.
An image of it was shown as part of former Saskatoon police Chief Clive Weighill's testimony Wednesday during the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls at the Hotel Saskatchewan in Regina.
"That monument just took my breath away when I saw it and I just cried. I started crying right away when I (saw) it. It was so beautiful," Radek said afterward, in a room where the smell of sweetgrass from a smudge earlier in the day still lingered.
Her niece, Tamara Lynn Chipman, was last seen in 2005 on a stretch of road in Northern B.C. known as "the Highway of Tears."
"A few months went by and there was no answers."
Today, there are still no answers for Radek or Chipman's now 14-year-old son.
"I feel stuck you know I want to know where my niece is," Radek said. "I want to know where she's buried so we can bring her home."
Cree artist Lionel Peyachew created the statue that was unveiled in 2017 outside the police headquarters in Saskatoon.
"It means a lot to me, for towns like Saskatoon and other towns that have a memorial, a monument, to honour our missing and murdered women because there's so many."
The hearing, which began Monday, is focused on policing. RCMP have said close to 1,200 Indigenous women were killed between 1980 and 2012, but Radek echoes other activists who have said the number is higher than 4,000.
"This is a genocidal problem. This is a systemic problem."
Radek is a member of the National Family Advisory Circle, a group of volunteers who provide advice to the inquiry's commissioners. They are family members of those at its heart.
"The inquiry is not the end-all be-all to end violence against women. The inquiry is to divulge on the issues," she said, adding she is hopeful it is an opportunity to build relationships with government and police forces.
Radek said she's heard police say this week that they want to build relationships with Indigenous families.
"They need to stand by their word," she said.
Earlier this week, RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki apologized to families and said the RCMP could have done better in the past.
Radek said the hearing is a step toward police accountability. She said police admitting they had done wrong in the past was a good "baby step."
"Are they willing to work with us now? Maybe. Right now the way I'm feeling right now is maybe it's just lip service."
History of advocacy
Radek said she began advocating for missing women when her niece disappeared, but soon realized other girls in the area were missing, too. Some had been found murdered.
She said she first became frustrated by what seemed like a lack of action regarding the Highway of Tears, but then she realized it the issue spanned the nation.
"A vision came to me about wanting to raise more awareness, because of the numbers and the families that were coming forward saying you know I've got a loved one missing," she said.
Radek said she walked from Vancouver to Ottawa in 2008 to raise awareness.
"It just seemed like nobody wanted to work on it. Nobody wanted to do anything about it and we just had enough," she said.
"That was our mission: was to demand a national public inquiry from the federal government.
Radek said they wanted a public inquiry because the issues of missing women were complex and involved many factors like policing, socio-economic issues, residential schools and the Sixties Scoop.
Radek's time with the inquiry has affirmed her goal to promote positive change.
"I think we opened the eyes of the world with this inquiry, I think that holding people to account is, I think, first and foremost in our mind."