WHITEHORSE—Cases of missing and murdered aboriginal women should be viewed as “crimes” rather than a “sociological phenomenon,” Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Thursday.

Rejecting a formal inquiry into the more than 1,100 cases of missing or murdered aboriginal women in Canada, Harper said the issues are “first and foremost” crimes and should be dealt with by police.

“I think we should not view this as sociological phenomenon. We should view it as crime,” Harper told a crowd at Yukon College in Whitehorse on Thursday.

“It is crime, against innocent people, and it needs to be addressed as such. We brought in laws across this country that I think are having more effect, in terms of crimes of violence against not just aboriginal women, but women and persons more generally. And we remain committed to that course of action.”

Harper was responding to a question about renewed calls for a formal federal inquiry in the wake of the tragic death of 15-year old Tina Fontaine in Winnipeg. Fontaine had been missing since Aug. 9, after running away from her foster home.

Her body, wrapped in a bag, was pulled out of the Red River on Sunday. Police are treating Fontaine’s death as a homicide.

About 1,000 people attended a vigil for Fontaine on Tuesday in Winnipeg, where a monument to missing and murdered women was unveiled just weeks ago. The Manitoba government has initiated a number of different reviews into the circumstances surrounding Fontaine’s death while in the care of the province’s Child and Family Services department.

“Obviously in the particular case . . . we want to extend all our sympathies to the families and friends,” said Harper. “This is a terrible crime, clearly a crime. But first and foremost it is a crime, and the most important thing is to make sure we have a thorough police investigation.”

The RCMP revealed in May that almost 1,200 aboriginal women have gone missing or been murdered in Canada over the last three decades. Approximately 1,000 of these women were murdered. According to police, almost 90 per cent of those murders were solved through their investigations.







There’s reason to believe foul play was involved in the majority of those who missing, the RCMP said.

Calls for a national inquiry have been steadily growing, and resurface with every tragedy discovered and statistic released. The governing Conservatives have continually rejected those calls.

“There has been very fulsome (sic) studies of these particular things, they’re not all one phenomenon,” Harper said Thursday, adding the government has committed additional resources in attempt to combat violent crime.

With files from The Canadian Press

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