VAUGHAN — The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) has released a comprehensive report on missing and unsolved murdered indigenous people in the OPP jurisdiction, from 1956 to 2014. The report indicates eight of 46 murdered indigenous women are unsolved and eight indigenous women are still missing; while one of 128 murdered indigenous men is unsolved and 39 indigenous men went missing.
“I wasn’t surprised at the numbers or the stories that came out in the report,” stated Glen Hare, deputy grand chief of the Anishinabek Nation after the OPP released the report last week. “I got my education when I listened to 15 families of missing and murdered women in Thunder Bay in February. One report that has shocked me since then is the one involving the police in Quebec, involving a murdered and missing woman.”
“These are the type of things that will come out of a national inquiry,” said Chief Hare. “Understandably, it will not be comfortable for anyone, there is going to be a lot of more hurt to families involved before healing can take place. It is like the residential school information and stories that were released, but this one is even worse because there is murder and bodies involved.”
The OPP report on missing and unsolved murdered indigenous people in OPP jurisdiction was released at a news conference on December 16 by commissioner J.V.N. (Vince) Hawkes and detective superintendent Dave Truax of OPP Criminal Investigation Services who were accompanied by Ontario Regional Chief Isadore Day and Deputy Grand Chief Denise Stonefish of the Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians.
Beginning in 2011, the OPP began proactively reviewing all available information on homicide investigations and unsolved missing persons and unidentified remains in OPP jurisdiction, where the victim was identified or self-identified as aboriginal. The report covers a period from 1956 to 2014.
By the end of 2014, there were 54 homicides involving indigenous females on OPP jurisdiction; eight of which remain unsolved for a clearance rate of 85.2 percent. Of the 48 solved female indigenous homicides, nine were murdered by family members, 17 were murdered by a domestic partner/spouse, 19 were murdered by persons known to the victim and one was of unknown circumstances.
For the period of 1978 to December 2014, inclusive, there were 126 homicides of indigenous males in OPP jurisdiction and only one remains unsolved for a clearance rate of 99.2 percent according to the OPP report. Of the 125 cases that were solved 35 were murdered by family members; 10 were murdered by domestic partner/spouse, 70 were murdered by persons known to victim, nine were of unknown circumstances, and one is not available.
During the same period, there were eight missing indigenous females reported to the OPP who remain missing-foul play is possible or suspected in one of these occurrences. Presently, there are 39 cases that involve missing indigenous males. Police believe foul play is possible or suspected for 22 missing indigenous men; 17 are considered missing persons.
“We recognize that there are many unanswered questions and that we cannot reverse the outcomes for the families and loved ones of those have gone missing or were murdered. We hope information in the OPP report generates further discussion, potential leads, and/or resolution for the families and communities who have suffered loss,” said OPP Commissioner Hawkes.
“The release of this report is timely to the start of the missing and murdered indigenous women and girls (MMIWG) national inquiry and the release of the full-report from the truth and reconciliation process,” said Chief Isadore Day, Ontario Regional Chief Assembly of First Nations. “Now it’s time to get work done based on a new social lens in Canada. Reconciliation means that all Canadians, all organizations, all political stripes and authorities, roll up their sleeve and begin to change a nation. The (OPP) report on missing and murdered First Nation citizens gives us a good starting point.”
OPP Detective Superintendent Dave Truax explained the OPP considers a case solved if a criminal charge is laid and someone is brought to justice. He said the OPP do not go further than laying the charge and don’t actually measure the conviction rate.
However, the term “solved rate” does not necessarily mean the charge resulted in a conviction. Victims’ families have said that the RCMP solved rates for homicides seemed high when in some cases, no one is brought to justice over their loved one’s murder.
Chief Hare noted “there are lots more cases involving the OPP. The ones in the report are those the OPP had permission to release. They (OPP) will have to be one of the major players in the national inquiry, as well as the RCMP in Northern communities.”
