National Inquiry on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Chief Commissioner, Marion Buller speaks during an interview with The Canadian Press, in Vancouver, B.C., on Wednesday August 31, 2016.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
The chief commissioner of a national inquiry into Canada's missing and murdered Indigenous women is optimistic about the public investigation despite mounting criticism that it has so far been a dismal failure.
Indigenous leaders, loved ones of victims and other advocates issued an open letter this week outlining concerns with the $53.8-million inquiry, chiefly a "continued lack of communication that is causing anxiety, frustration, confusion and disappointment."
Marion Buller on Friday issued a written response to the letter and addressed media, acknowledging the concerns while maintaining optimism about the long-awaited process.
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"There are women and men across Canada who have worked very hard, for as long as 40 years, for this inquiry to come to life," Ms. Buller said. "I understand their frustration, I understand their anxiety.
"We also have people telling us to do it right, take your time, be careful, be respectful, be trauma-informed. I understand where they're coming from too."
The chief commissioner said there is still "a lot of hope out there."
Ms. Buller noted the inquiry hired a new communications director, Bernee Bolton, on April 18 and that a new strategy is being developed to communicate the work being done and update families. Ms. Bolton is the commission's third communications director.
Regarding calls to extend the Nov. 1 deadline for an interim report, Ms. Buller said the commission is re-evaluating its needs for time and funding – but could not provide any preliminary estimates.
"I can't tell you as of today how long of an extension we're looking for and then what the resulting amount of money would be because we have to do a very thorough analysis," she said.
The inquiry has also been criticized for postponing hearings with families, which begin later this month and were expected to continue throughout the summer. Instead, only hearings scheduled in Whitehorse for the last week of May will proceed; expert panels will take place over the summer and the other family hearings will resume in the fall.
Ms. Buller said Friday this was due to feedback from families, many of whom had other obligations over the summer such as the powwow circuit or traditional hunting activities.
Lorelei Williams – whose aunt, Belinda Williams, went missing from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside in 1978, and whose cousin's remains were found on serial killer Robert Pickton's property – said Friday she was pleased to learn that the chief commissioner had responded to the open letter.
She is glad the commission will implement a new strategy to communicate with victims' families, she said, but awaits details on how it will do that.
"It is very important that they pro-actively reach out to families; they can't just wait for families to approach them," Ms. Williams said.
She was also heartened to hear that the commission will be re-evaluating its timelines, given that most family hearings will now be put off until the fall.
"This inquiry is a mess and they need to make [significant] changes to it for it to be credible," she said.
A 2014 report by the RCMP said the force had identified nearly 1,200 Indigenous women and girls who disappeared or were slain in recent decades, and some critics suggest the Mounties' list is far from complete.
The two-year inquiry, led by five commissioners, officially launched on Sept. 1. The Native Women's Association of Canada has issued two report cards on the process to date, both of which gave the inquiry low grades.
Andrea Woo