ONWA executive director says missing and murdered Indigenous inquiry needs a restart.

THUNDER BAY – Already struggling with the rescheduling of a series of meetings and a number of key resignations, the missing and murdered Indigenous women inquiry hit another setback with the withdrawal of support from the Ontario Native Women’s Association.

ONWA, which had been granted standing for all three phases of the inquiry, on Tuesday released an open letter detailing a number of concerns with the inquiry, concluding the organization cannot support the current format and approach.

Executive director Cora-Lee McGuire-Cyrette said ONWA only found out about the fall schedule from media reports, arguing that shows a lack of procedure for the inquiry.

“It needs a restart,” McGuire-Cyrette said.

“We have to seriously look at the road we’re going down and they need to stop and begin to listen to the community. That’s part of an inquiry, is to listen in order to get substantial recommendations for this very important cause. We can no longer do harm to our most vulnerable population.”

McGuire-Cyrette said ONWA has been monitoring the inquiry since its inception and has closely followed its progress, whether it has been meeting directives and the terms of reference.

The lack of communication also affected families who have the desire to be a part of the process, she added.

“We’ve been getting calls from families that have not been contacted from the inquiry. They’ve reached out to them to tell their story and they have not been contacted back,” McGuire-Cyrette said.

“For us it’s very concerning, especially when somebody is ready and willing to speak on behalf of their family’s experiences. For them to be ignored, to us is another form of violence against the family.”

The inquiry was slated to holding hearings in the fall beginning in Thunder Bay on Sept. 10, following the cancellation of regional advisory meetings earlier this spring.

But ONWA maintains with an ongoing independent review of the city police force against allegations of systemic racism and concerns about the safety of Indigenous youth following the recent deaths of Indigenous teens Tammy Keeash and Josiah Begg, the city is not in a state to hold such a painful, emotional session.

“Thunder Bay is in a mode of crisis and is definitely not the first place to kick off your inquiry,” McGuire-Cyrette said. “We’re worried about people being triggered. When people are triggered they participate in high-risk behaviours and I don’t think Thunder Bay needs any more of it right now.”

In the open letter, ONWA states it does not believe any of the 12 Indigenous service organizations in Thunder Bay have been contacted by the inquiry.

That leaves concern about how families will be supported after they go through the painful process of revisiting the death of their loved ones.

“Who’s going to be here after they leave? Who’s going to be here to pick up the pieces? Who’s going to be here to support the families after they’ve shared their stories after this hearing has come in?” McGuire-Cyrette said.

“It’s going to be the community agencies that are going to have to take on that responsibility.”