Yellowknife, NWT – The federal government is rejecting renewed calls for a public inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women in advance of a meeting Wednesday between premiers and native leaders.
Premier Bob McLeod is among provincial and territorial leaders at the 55th annual Premiers’ Conference being held in Charlottetown this week.
Premiers and Aboriginal leaders endorsed the idea of an inquiry when they met last year, but there appears to be growing momentum behind such a proposal this time around.
Native leaders say the need for an inquiry has been highlighted by the death earlier this month of a 15-year-old Aboriginal girl whose body was found wrapped in a bag that was dumped in the Red River in Winnipeg.
Police are treating Tina Fontaine’s death as a homicide.
Last week, the Prime Minister said cases like Fontaine’s should not be viewed as a sociological phenomenon, but rather as serious crimes to be investigated by police.
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