Stories of loss, frustration and life-long grieving were shared during the first B.C. stop for the national inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.
The week-long hearing, taking place in Smithers, is the second of nine places so far announced the inquiry is visiting across Canada, and the first since it delayed hearings to change how it prepared families ahead of time. The first was held May 30 to June 1 in Whitehorse.
The chief commissioner and others involved in the inquiry participated in a walk into Smithers Monday evening, followed by the lighting of the sacred fire, a water ceremony and a brushing off ceremony for families of the murdered and missing women.
Arrival to Smithers
The first person to share her story to the panel was Vicki Hall. Hall is from Prince Rupert and was only six months old when her mother was murdered in 1978. She lived with her grandparents but said she suffered abuse and left the house at age 13. Her mother, Mary Jane Hill, was only 31 when she died. Her body was discovered naked outside of Prince Rupert along Highway 16, while her clothes were found in an alleyway in the city.
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The case remains unsolved and Hill told the commissioners that she doesn香蕉视频直播檛 know if there was ever a suspect. She went on to say that she香蕉视频直播檚 had trouble finding information and that the local RCMP have not been helpful in giving her answers. The only thing she has ever gotten is a 90 page copy of a coroner香蕉视频直播檚 inquest.
Hill has asked the RCMP to see her mother香蕉视频直播檚 case but was told the images were too disturbing.
香蕉视频直播淏ut why can香蕉视频直播檛 I have them? Who else has seen them?香蕉视频直播� she questioned.
Protect E-PANA investigators (a task force dedicated to the unsolved murders along the Highway of Tears) spoke with her while doing their investigation but told her her mother does not fit the criteria to be on their list. She told the commissioners that was frustrating and makes her feel angry. Hill explained that she has had many personal problems to overcome including turning to alcohol to numb the pain.
She hopes the outcome of the inquiry will help get better transit along Highway 16, improved cell service from Terrace to Prince Rupert, more signage warning of the dangers of hitch hiking and justice for mother and all the other missing and murdered women. But nothing will bring back her mom.
香蕉视频直播淪he won香蕉视频直播檛 be there for me when I need her the most and that isn香蕉视频直播檛 fair. She didn香蕉视频直播檛 deserve this whatsoever, she had children to look after and siblings. She wasn香蕉视频直播檛 there when her grandchildren were born. It香蕉视频直播檚 so tough and now I have to deal with it,香蕉视频直播� she said.
Hill added that she isn香蕉视频直播檛 just speaking up for her mom but for all the families victimized by the Highway of Tears.
香蕉视频直播淚 can feel the hurt. I am not afraid. I have my rights too and things need to change no matter what,香蕉视频直播� she said.
Chief Vivianne Tom from Burns Lake also spoke about losing her daughter in 2013 and what led up to her murder.
Tom香蕉视频直播檚 daughter Destiny was only 21 when her abusive boyfriend killed her. Tom told the commission her and her husband thought about suicide or turning to alcohol to end their pain but decided that raising Destiny香蕉视频直播檚 baby was more important.
Tom said the toughest part of losing her daughter was seeing her body in the mud and snow under a tarp and the police not letting her go under the crime scene tape to hug her daughter one last time.
Tom said there weren香蕉视频直播檛 enough resources to help her daughter get clean and get away from her baby香蕉视频直播檚 father, despite him being charged twice after assaulting her.
Because of time constraints the next two sessions ran simultaneously in two different places.
One of Darlene Jack香蕉视频直播檚 family members, a victim of the Highway of Tears, spoke in one room of the Northwest Community College beside the hall, and the family of Tamara Chipman香蕉视频直播檚, a missing Prince Rupert woman, continued in the friendship hall.
Several members of Chipman香蕉视频直播檚 family gathered together in front of the commission. Her father spoke first about when she first went missing in 2005, often breaking down.
He said the RCMP were helpful when filing the missing persons report, something he香蕉视频直播檚 heard otherwise from other families of missing women. Tamara had her own car and her father wasn香蕉视频直播檛 sure why she was last seen hitchhiking near Prince Rupert.
Her aunt Lorna Brown blames social services for taking away her son when he was only six months old and treating her unfairly, the result being a spiral into a different lifestyle.
香蕉视频直播淭hey judged her but I saw how much she loved him and how it tore her apart not to have him,香蕉视频直播� she said. 香蕉视频直播淚f only they had given him back to her sooner, I think she would still be here with us today.香蕉视频直播�
The community hearings continue Wednesday and Thursday in Smithers.
