The Manitoba government has passed an order in council that provides the federally appointed commissioners of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls the authority to examine the considerable work and analysis already completed in Manitoba and to examine matters within the exclusive jurisdiction of the province.  

“The tragedy of missing and murdered women is keenly felt in Manitoba and is of vital and ongoing public importance given our province’s young and growing Indigenous population.  The critical work of the national inquiry must build upon the work undertaken in Manitoba in order to identify and better understand and address the systemic gaps that put Indigenous women and girls at risk,” said Justice Minister and Attorney General Heather Stefanson.

The inquiry’s commissioners are expected to issue a report and recommendations for concrete and effective action, based on these perspectives and other knowledge and expertise gathered from across Canada, by the end of 2018.  Manitoba has committed to support the work of the national inquiry and fully expects its processes and outcomes to be representative of and meaningful to the survivors of violence against Indigenous women and girls, the families of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls and the larger community.