MMIWG Inquiry heads for Prince George to host " Statement Gathering" Sessions

The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls will be making its second stop along the Highway of Tears next week, with the staff member from the Commission set  to arrive in Prince George for three days of statement taking from February 5 to 7 taking place at that city's Civic Centre.

There had been some criticism of the touring schedule for the MMIWG commission, which up until now had only one session in Northern British Columbia, that back in September when they held two days of statements and presentations in Smithers.

In recent weeks, there has been some concern that the Commission of Inquiry had not made any plans to hold sessions in the largest community along the Highway 16 corridor.

The appearance in Prince George however might not quite be what residents of Northern BC are looking for however.  In the statement announcing the three days in the city, it's noted that no commissioners will be in attendance at the Prince George event.

With the stop in the Northern interior city described as a "statement gathering" event, where audio and video contributions will be collected to be reviewed at a later date by the commissioners.

The three days of statement gathering will include public opening and closing ceremonies where all are invited to attend, however, the statement gathering segments of the three day stop will not be open to the public or the media. Those wishing to participate can contact Penny Kerrigan at 778-238-6876 or by email at p.kerrigan@mmiwg-ffada.ca 

There will also be an opportunity for participants to provide walk in statements to the Prince George sessions.

For more details related to the Prince George stop see this information statement

As we outlined on the blog in January, controversy has followed the commissioners as they have toured the country, with a number of firings, resignations and other issues providing for many concerns over the direction that the inquiry is taking.

In Mid-January Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reaffirmed his support for their work and indicated that while the government continues to monitor its work, he had not plans to take any action related to the recent criticism of the commission work.

The latest items of interest from the Commission of inquiry can be found from their Facebook page and twitter feed, the MMIWG website, which does not seem to get updated as frequently as the social media streams, also has some background information available for review.

Some notes on the upcoming stopover in Prince George can be found below:


MMIWG coming to Prince George
MMIW inquiry to hold statement gathering session in Prince George
Still no MMIWG hearings scheduled for largest city on the Highway of Tears as deadline looms


For a complete overview of the Missing and Murdered Inquiry , see our archive page of MMIWG notes here.


Cross posted from the North Coast Review.