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In an interview Thursday with the National Post, Buller wouldn’t confirm that these particular recommendations will appear in the national inquiry’s June 3 final report, which is intended to address the root causes of violence against Indigenous women, though she said “there will be some overlap.” But she said her recommendations to the committee were based on concerns the commissioners have heard from Indigenous people across the country, and the final report will recommend changes to several laws, including the Criminal Code.

“We’re looking at many pieces of legislation, and not just federal, but provincial and territorial as well,” she said. “We’re also looking at band governance under the Indian Act.”

In her testimony on Wednesday, Buller applauded a provision of Bill C-75 that would allow higher maximum penalties in cases of domestic violence, though she said the definition of such violence should be broadened to encompass violence between family members, not only toward intimate partners. “In other words, the net hasn’t been cast far enough,” she said.

Nothing less than that is going to protect the safety of Indigenous women, girls and members of the 2SLGBTQQIA communities

But it was her three final recommendations that especially stood out. First, she said courts must consider whether victims are Indigenous women before granting bail to those they accuse. “Too often … we heard from family members and survivors that an accused individual was released back into the community without proper protection for the complainant and her family,” she said. Second, when victims are Indigenous women, that must be an aggravating factor during sentencing, Buller said. And finally, the killing of Indigenous women must automatically be treated as first-degree murder. “It’s to recognize the importance of the individual who has been killed and the importance of their life,” she said. “That tells all of Canada that if you kill one of these women, it’s murder in the first degree, the strongest penalty and the strongest offence that we can impose.”