MMIWG2S+
In December 2015 the Canadian Government launched a National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. Their final report - Reclaiming Power and Place - was released on June 3, 2019. The two-volume report includes 231 recommendations or "Calls for Justice" directed at governments, institutions, social service providers, industries, and Canadians.
On June 3, 2021, the national action plan was released: 2021 Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People National Action Plan: Ending Violence Against Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People. As one component of the national action plan, the Canadian Government developed the federal pathway.
Full report available here.
This page will help you find background information and updates on the issues involved, and provide links to organizations working to address these issues.
National Action Plan
Inquiry Documents
Online Reports
Community Hearings
As part of the Truth Gathering Process, a Greater Vancouver Community Hearing was held from April 4-8, 2018. The statements are recorded below.
News Sources
Advocacy Organizations and Resources
Recommended Books
Highway of Tears
362.88082 M13h
2019
For decades, women--overwhelmingly from Indigenous backgrounds--have gone missing or been found murdered along an isolated stretch of a highway in northwestern B.C. The highway is called the Highway of Tears by locals, and it has come to symbolize a national crisis. Jessica McDiarmid explores the effect these tragedies have had on communities in the region, and how systemic racism and indifference towards Indigenous lives have created a culture of "over-policing and under-protection," simultaneously hampering justice while endangering young Indigenous women.
Keetsahnak: Our Missing and Murdered Indigenous Sisters
362.8292 K268a
2018
Various contributors examine the roots of violence and they create a model for anti-violence work from an Indigenous perspective.
Forever Loved: Exposing the Hidden Crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in Canada
362.8292 F71L
2016
Stories, essays and poetry from Indigenous and non-Indigenous academics, frontline workers and activists.
Obstruction of Justice: The Search for Truth on Canada's Highway of Tears
362.88082 M62o
2016
An investigation into missing and murdered women in North British Columbia
Stolen Sisters: The Story of Two Missing Girls, Their Families and How Canada Has Failed Indigenous Women
362.8292 W23s
2015
Links the disappearance of Shannon Alexander and Maisy Odjick to the wider systemic failure of law enforcement and of all levels of government to address the issue of missing and murdered indigenous women.
Remembering Vancouver's Disappeared Women: Settler Colonialism and the Difficulty of Inheritance
362.88082 D28r
2015
Analyzes of the public campaigns, actions, and art that drew attention to Vancouver's missing women.
Digital Library Resources
Northwest History Index
This card index in Special Collection provides access to the Northwest History Collection, a heritage collection covering the early history and exploration of British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest.
The collection includes:
- magazine and newspaper articles
- pamphlets
- books
- chapters in books
- many other resources
As of August 1998, no new material has been added to the Northwest History Index. It is continued by the British Columbia Index.