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Since Bryce’s time, what feels like an infinite number of inquiries and commissions have followed on his heels. Like him, they have condemned official action and inaction towards Indigenous people in the harshest terms they could think of. And they have made recommendations. Endless recommendations. Recommendations to implement past recommendations.

In fact, the creation of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls was itself a recommendation made in the 2015 report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

The final report of the MMIWG inquiry, delivered Monday, also makes recommendations, 231 in all. Some, like establishing a universal basic income and harsher sentencing for offenders who target Indigenous women, are bold and controversial — but it is striking how many others we’ve heard before.

According to Karine Duhamel, director of research at the inquiry, it drew from 98 previous reports that focused on violence against Indigenous women in Canada or touched on the issue. Some came from governments (parliamentary committees, provincial commissions of inquiry, coroners’ inquests and so on) but others were produced by Indigenous groups, academics and advocacy groups like Amnesty International.

In some important ways, this report is different than all those that came before. It’s the first truly national investigation Canada has ever had into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. It was granted what it described as “the broadest mandate a Canadian public inquiry has ever received,” including powers to subpoena documents and compel witnesses to testify. It also investigated root causes of violence against Indigenous women across Canada, not just the actions of any particular agency or group.