Skepticism and hope as national MMIWG hearings come to B.C.'s Highway of Tears

Gladys Radek has spent a lot of time walking since her niece Tamara Chipman disappeared 12 years ago.

She's marched across the country to speak in the House of Commons about her niece and other missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

She's also walkedthe Highway of Tears, the stretch of Highway 16 between Prince George and Prince Rupert, B.C., where Chipman was last seen.

On Monday, Radekcompleted what she says will be her final walk: a 300-kilometre journey from Prince Rupert to Smitherswhere she will testify at the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

"The first walk that we did was to demand a national inquiry, so now that we have this national inquiry, what we'll be doing is we'll be walking into those meetings that they're having in Smithers," she said.

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"One of our elders told me a few years ago that we should do seven walks, and so this is the seventh walk, and, yeah, I think that's a good number."

Radek said when she walks, she can feel the spirits of the missing women she's fought to keep in the spotlight.

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Does the MMIWG Inquiry need more time?

7 years ago

Duration 6:57

'We're ready to move on' past the criticism, says Chief Commissioner Marion Buller.

"You know that there's so many families out there that are in mourning either because their child is missing or remains an unsolved murder," she said.

"Up here on the Highway of Tears, you can really feel it."

Running out of time

On Tuesday, the first and, for now,only community hearings for the national inquiry scheduled for B.C. get underway in Smithers, which ishalfway between Prince Rupert and Prince George.

The week marks an important test for the inquiry, which has been plagued by delays and resignations.

Community hearings were initially scheduled to begin over the summer, but so far the commission has only held one such meeting, in Whitehorse.

Chief commissionerMarion Buller said those delays were due, in part, to federal bureaucracy.

"We now know the constraints, the limitations, and we can plan accordingly," she told CBC Newslast week.

"And we're moving on ... we're back on the road again."

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Carrier Sekani Tribal Chief Terry Teegee said, while he thinks it's important to work with the commission, he has concerns about what it will be able to accomplish.

"Recommendations come out, and they're usually never resourced," he said."How's it going to be resourced after the inquiry is done?"

Slow to act

He said his skepticism is informed by how slow government has been to act on other recommendations, such as those from the 2006 Highway of Tears symposiumand B.C.'s Missing Women Commission of Inquiry, which looked into the victims of serial killer Robert Pickton.

Radekis also skeptical, although her concerns are based on the tight timeline for the inquiry: an interim report is due Nov.1, and a final report is supposed to be delivered by the end of 2018.

There's so many different issues that you need to deal with, from poverty to racism ... it's going to be pretty hard to unravel it- Gladys Radek

"You can't unravel genocide in two years," she said.

"There's so many different issues that you need to deal with, from poverty to racism ... it's going to be pretty hard to unravel it."

Commissioners have said they are considering asking for a one to two-year extension on their timeline.

They also say community hearings are at the "heart" of their work, allowing families, friendsand survivors of violence to speak directly about their story. There will be no cross-examinations or questioning at the community hearings.

Radeksays she is eager to share her niece's story and the stories of the people she's metand believes the national inquiry still has an important role to play moving forward.

"Ireally want to talk to them about solutions, not just for Tamara, but for the thousands of other families out there," she said."

"There has to be a solution in there somewhere."

Community hearings in Smithers run until Sept. 28.