The NDP’s Aboriginal Affairs critic says the party will continue to push the Harper government to call a national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women.
Jean Crowder was in Meadow Lake Monday as part of short trip to northern Saskatchewan.
The federal government has continued to stonewall on calling an inquiry and some have suggested concerned groups need to move forward on the issue with or without the government.
However, Crowder says the Harper government needs to be on board if headway is to be made on the issue of missing and murdered Aboriginal women.
“We need to keep the pressure on the government because this needs to be a government led initiative,” she says. “I mean if the NDP held a series of roundtables, it still wouldn’t pressure the government into taking the recommendations that would come out of those roundtables. Just as we saw with the special committee on violence against Indigenous women and girls.”
She also says she is not surprised a number of Saskatchewan First Nations are refusing to comply with Bill C-27.
The First Nations Financial Transparency Act requires bands to post financial statements and chief and council salaries on the government’s website.
Crowder says the way the Harper government has went about enacting Bill C-27 is completely wrong.
“When they came to Bill C-27, what they have actually done is they’re holding First Nations leaders to a different standard than other politicians in this country. So, chief and councils are not only required to report money that they get from the federal government, they’re required to report the money they may get from business interests, business enterprises from the band.”
The NDP Aboriginal Affairs critic was also in Ile-a-la Crosse where she met with Mayor Duane Favel and Athabasca MLA Buckley Belanger on Sunday.
She says infrastructure needs – roads, housing and access to education and training – were some of the main issues to come up in these discussions.
Crowder was scheduled to meet with the Meadow Lake Tribal Council on Monday.