Ontario offers new services for families of missing, murdered Indigenous women

Families of Indigenous women andgirls who have died or disappeared have a new place to turn in Ontario for help with everything from navigating the justice system to finding a traditional healer.

The province opened three field offices in Thunder Bay, Sudbury and Sioux Lookout for it's family liaison workers in April. Their work is coordinated by a fourth worker, Terry Swan, in Toronto.

The new service comes just as the national public inquiry announced last week that it is postponing scheduled meetingsintended to gather advice from familieson what issues should be covered when the inquiry starts public hearings at the end of May.

"We are the only province to date that has an all Indigenous team of family liaison workers with offices located within Indigenous organizations," a spokesperson for Ontario's Ministry of the Attorney General said in an email to CBC News.

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The work is funded by Justice Canada.

According to the province, the liaison workers are intended to be "a single point of contact" for families looking for help in four areas:

• navigating provincial process
• gathering case-specific information about police investigations, court proceedings, coroner's investigations or inquests
• connecting families with elders, Indigenous knowledge keepers, healers and/or mainstream trauma counseling and supports
• collaborating with similar liaison units in other provinces and territories, when needed, to obtain information about a loved one who is missing or had been killed in another jurisdiction

Families do not need any official record of their loss to access the services.

As Indigenous people, the family liaison workers "bring a deep understanding of the historical context of violence against Indigenous women and girls and the unique needs of families who have suffered the loss of a loved one to such violence," said the email from the ministry to CBC News.

In Thunder Bay, the family support unit is hosted by AnishinawbeMushkikiAboriginal Health Access Centre.

The workers will travel to meet with families, including to remote communities, according the ministry.

Ontario has also hired MaggieCywinkas a special advisor on missing and murdered Indigenous women.

Her sister,SonyaCywink, 31, was killed in 1994. The murder remains unsolved.

MaggieCywink"has been an advocate for over 20 years who will help ensure that the voices and needs of families are respected and heard," the ministry spokesperson said.

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