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Her death will be investigated. Maybe the killer will be found, maybe not. But we are told there will be no public inquiry into the wider question of why so many aboriginal women end up in plastic bags. Inreply to pleas for a systemic examination of what is plainly a systemic failure, Stephen Harper offers a flat refusal. He wants no part of an independent inquiry and says, “We should not view this as a sociological phenomenon.”

Justice Minister Peter MacKay expands on the government’s position with typical muscularity: “Now is the time to take action, not to continue to study the issue.” Heritage Minister Shelly Glover – a Metis, a Manitoban and a former cop – added that 40 reviews have already been conducted. It all sounds persuasive. Until you think carefully about what they are saying and what they are not doing.

The notion that some forced choice must be made between investigating these crimes and considering root causes is maddeningly false. Law enforcement would benefit from a more comprehensive understanding of the crisis – patterns invisible to the particular would become apparent in the whole. Such insights would also help shape efforts to boost living and economic conditions for aboriginal Canadians.

As to the notion that this plague has been studied exhaustively, that must surely mean all the answers required to fix things have been identified. To which Tina’s grief-crippled family might ask: So why isn’t it fixed? The sad reality is that we’re a great distance from fixing anything. With aboriginal populations soaring, prospects for their youth dwindling and more girls like Tina going missing, the problem is at least as bad as ever and almost certainly set to become worse.