Fifteen-year-old Tina Fontaine's body was recovered from the Red River Aug. 17. Police are investigating the death as a homicide. (CBC) Prime Minister Stephen Harper has dismissed renewed calls for a national inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women after the killing of 15-year-old Tina Fontaine in Winnipeg.

"It's very clear that there has been very fulsome study of this particular … of these particular things. They're not all one phenomenon," said Harper. "We should not view this as a sociological phenomenon. We should view it as crime."

Fontaine's body was found in a bag in the Red River on Sunday, and police believe the girl was murdered.

Harper said he extended his sympathies to Fontaine's family but reiterated no inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women would be called.

Previous Next

Harper made the comments on Thursday during his annual tour of the North.

"The RCMP has said itself in its study, the vast majority of these cases are addressed, and they're solved through police investigations," said Harper. "We'll leave it in their hands."