“Not a sociological phenomenon.” Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s recent comments and his refusal to call an inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women is a disgrace to all of us as Canadians. The death of 15-year-old Tina Fontaine, an Anishinabe girl who is the latest name to be added to the unacceptably long list of missing and murdered aboriginal women, needs to be a wake-up call for everyone.

There is no way, as Mr. Harper suggests, to see these killings as merely “crime” without taking into consideration the colonial history of our country. It is unconscionable that our Prime Minister could declare that there is no sociological phenomenon responsible for these tragedies. It is a problem that has existed for hundreds of years.

A diary entry from Anglican Bishop George Hills, who settled in British Columbia, highlights how long we have viewed aboriginal girls and women as disposable. His diary entry from 24 September 1860 reads:

“The road to Esquimalt, on Sunday, is lined with the poor Indian women offering to sell themselves to the white men, passers by & instances are to be seen of open bargaining… there are houses in town where girls of not more than twelve are taken in at night & turned out in the morning, like cattle.”

Similarly, Canada’s colonial and racist discrimination against aboriginal people is also a long- standing sociological phenomenon, as is evident from the lead sentence of a June 1863 article from The British Columbian:

“It would be manifestly impolitical and productive of harm to put the uncivilized and unchristianized Indians of this country in possession of all the rights and privileges of citizenship.”

This sociological phenomenon of oppression further expressed itself when Canada forcibly removed 150,000 Aboriginal, Inuit and Métis children from their homes and put them into residential schools. Mothers who tried to resist the state-sanctioned abductions were thrown in prison. In the residential schools, the First Nations children were robbed of their culture and language, and many were physically and sexually abused. The far-reaching generational consequences of those colonial abductions can still be seen today in the disturbing numbers of Aboriginal children in foster care and disproportionate numbers of First Nations people behind bars.

It is unconscionable that our Prime Minister could declare that there is no sociological phenomenon responsible for these tragedies. It is a problem that has existed for hundreds of years.

Today, there are more aboriginal kids in foster care than in the entire history of residential schools. Tina Fontaine was one of those children. Her death and the deaths of all the other missing and murdered aboriginal women must be viewed not merely as crime but as part of our country’s continued discrimination against First Nations peoples.

A 2013 report from the RCMP indicates that the percentage of aboriginal murder victims has tripled over the last 30 years, jumping from 8% in 1984 to 23% in 2012. The office of the Correctional Investigator also reports that the number of aboriginal women incarcerated has increased by 109% from 2002-2012. These statistics point to an undeniable sociological phenomenon and immediate action is needed.

This week at the Council of the Federation, premiers will attempt to address the high rates of aboriginal kids in care and they are also expected to renew the call for a national inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women.

It is time for our Prime Minister to stop denying the reality of the situation faced by First Nations women and it is time for each of us to demand that our aboriginal sisters be protected.

In the words of First Nations elder Lee Maracle:

“We are all about “all my relations,” this is the centre point of our legal systems, everyone in this country, in order to be a ‘decolonized’ citizen must ascribe to this and protect the mothers of our nations and the future mothers of our nations, so that we may live within and transmit to everyone our laws and our relational teachings, that we may all live in peace. Anything else contributes to genocide.”

Samantha Sarra is a journalist and activist and a co-principal investigator on Bonding Through Bars, an international research roundtable held by the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies at the University of British Columbia, which looked at the protecting the health and bond of incarcerated mothers and their children.

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