Premiers call for roundtable on aboriginal women – The Guardian

August 28, 2014

The country’s premiers are calling for a national roundtable to discuss the issue of murdered and missing aboriginal women as a compromise measure in the absence of a national public inquiry.

After a meeting with aboriginal leaders in Charlottetown Wednesday, P.E.I. Premier Robert Ghiz said the premiers reiterated their support for an inquiry, but as the federal government has rejected this, a roundtable discussion would be “a step in the right direction.”

“We are looking to compromise because we believe it is an issue that has to be addressed,” Ghiz said.

“We believe dialogue and compromise are good first steps. If we know we’re not going to get somewhere, there’s no point us putting our head in the sand and saying we’re done with it.”

The premiers also committed to putting together a socio-economic action plan for aboriginal women.

This will be concentrated on education, housing and job opportunities.

“We believe that’s one of the keys to helping alleviate this terrible black eye on Canada,” Ghiz said, adding he believes “socio-economic backgrounds play a huge part in missing or murdered aboriginal women.”

Read More: http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/News/Local/2014-08-28/article-3850624/Premiers-call-for-roundtable-on-aboriginal-women/1