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Coalition Demands Action on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and Makes Preliminary Recommendations for National Inquiry

(Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver, B.C. – November 9, 2015) A Coalition on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls is holding a press conference this morning to advise the public that British Columbia has failed to make significant progress on many of the recommendations from the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry (MWCI) and continues to ignore international recommendations from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). Given their experience with the MWCI, the Coalition is making preliminary recommendations to the newly elected Trudeau Government for the National Inquiry which Prime Minister Trudeau promised would start immediately.

Coast Salish Territory (Vancouver, BC) – BC First Nations Leaders are optimistic following today’s appointment of the new federal Liberal Cabinet by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The First Nations Leadership Council (FNLC) are particularly pleased that for the first time there will be two indigenous members of Cabinet, including former BCAFN Regional Chief and FNLC member Jody Wilson-Raybould (Vancouver-Granville), who was appointed Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada.

October 29, 2015

Premier Christy Clark
PO BOX 9041 STN PROV GOVT
Victoria BC V8W-9E1
Via facsimile: 250-387-0087
604-775-1688

OPEN LETTER: UBCIC Demands Premier Clark Apologize for Highway of Tears Deleted Emails and Implement Recommendations from Privacy Commissioner’s Report

(Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver, B.C.- October 27, 2015) A Coalition on Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls is extremely upset that the BC Information and Privacy Commissioner has found that Ministry of Transportation staff willfully deleted emails related to the Highway of Tears, a remote stretch of Highway 16 between Prince Rupert and Prince George, where many Indigenous women and girls have been murdered or disappeared.

(Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver, B.C. – October 26, 2015) The Union of BC Indian Chiefs is demanding that the BC Government take immediate action to implement the recommendations made by the Province’s Information and Privacy Commissioner in the investigative report released last week.

(Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver, B.C. – October 20, 2015) The 2015 Federal Election resulted in a Liberal majority government with 70% of the registered electors in British Columbia electing 17 Liberal, 14 NDP, 10 Conservative and 1 Green Party representatives.

While not all parties have responded to the questions posed by the BC First Nations Leadership Council, all federal parties have made various commitments to First Nations. A quick summary of Party commitments to this point in the campaign that may be relevant to First Nation communities can be found in the chart below. Commitments in italic made at this summer’s AFN AGA.

(Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver, B.C. – October 9, 2015) The Union of BC Indian Chiefs is demanding that Bob Zimmer, Conservative Party candidate for the Prince George-Peace River-Northern Rockies, immediately withdraw his candidacy in the race to become the next MP for his riding.