What were the findings of the National Inquiry into MMIWG?

The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) operated from 2016 to 2019 and produced its final report 'Reclaiming Power and Place' on June 3, 2019. The Inquiry concluded that the violence against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ (two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual) people constituted a 'race-based genocide' rooted in Canadian colonial structures. The Inquiry made 231 Calls for Justice covering federal, provincial, territorial, Indigenous, and corporate actions. The MMIWG Inquiry was the most comprehensive Canadian investigation of violence against Indigenous women.

The Inquiry was established on August 1, 2016 by Justin Trudeau's Liberal government, in fulfilment of a 2015 election commitment. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police's 2014 'Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women: A National Operational Overview' had documented 1,181 cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women between 1980 and 2012 (about 16 per cent of female homicides though Indigenous women are about 4 per cent of the female population). Indigenous advocates and the Native Women's Association of Canada had called for an Inquiry for over two decades. Marion Buller (the first Indigenous woman judge in British Columbia) chaired the Inquiry, with commissioners Michèle Audette, Brian Eyolfson, Qajaq Robinson, and Marilyn Poitras (who resigned in July 2017).

The Inquiry held hearings across Canada, with about 2,380 family members and survivors testifying about their experiences. Hearings were held in 9 national community hearings, 15 statement-gathering hearings, and 4 institutional and expert hearings. The two-volume final report was 1,200 pages. The Inquiry's core finding was that violence against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people constituted genocide under international law definitions, with specific reference to the actions of the Canadian state in destroying Indigenous women's social, political, and cultural structures. This finding was contested by some federal officials and academics but endorsed by Indigenous communities, by Justin Trudeau (who accepted the characterisation on June 4, 2019), and by international observers.

The 231 Calls for Justice covered diverse areas: human and Indigenous rights and governmental obligations; culture, health, and wellness; security, justice, and policing; specific actions for police, the legal profession, education, the media, social workers, health professionals, prosecutors, the federal government, provincial and territorial governments, and Indigenous organisations; and a National Action Plan to End Violence Against Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People. The federal government released its National Action Plan on June 3, 2021 (the second anniversary of the final report). Implementation has been criticised as slow and incomplete; many Calls for Justice remain unimplemented. The federal Path Forward (2021), the federal Federal Pathway to Address MMIWG (2021), and ongoing Indigenous Action and the establishment of the National Family and Survivors Circle continue the work.