Canada's Trudeau sets up inquiry on missing and murdered Aboriginals

TORONTO, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Vowing to renew the relationship
between Canada and its Aboriginals, Prime Minister Justin
Trudeau said on Tuesday his government would set up an inquiry
on missing and murdered indigenous women, a measure opposed by
his predecessor.
Trudeau said his government was committed to repairing the
partnership with Canada's Aboriginals, who make up 5 percent of
the population but have higher levels of poverty and addiction
and are far more often victims of crime than other Canadians.
"I know that renewing our relationship is an ambitious goal,
but I am equally certain that it is one we can, and will,
achieve if we work together," Trudeau told hundreds of chiefs of
Canada's First Nations at a meeting near Ottawa.
Trudeau named two indigenous members of Parliament to his
cabinet when he took office last month, including Justice
Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould.
Trudeau, whose Liberals won office in October after nearly a
decade of Conservative rule, said during his campaign he would
launch an inquiry on the murder and disappearance of hundreds of
indigenous women in recent decades, a move former Prime Minister
Stephen Harper resisted.
"We have made this inquiry a priority for our government
because those touched by this national tragedy have waited long
enough. The victims deserve justice, their families an
opportunity to be heard and to heal," Trudeau said in prepared
remarks for a speech to the Assembly of First Nations.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said last May that 1,017
Aboriginal women had been murdered between 1980 and 2012.
Another 108 are missing under suspicious circumstances, with
some cases dating back to 1952.
International rights groups, including Amnesty International
and the human rights branch of the Organization of the American
States, have urged Canada's government to investigate.
Details of the consultation process for the inquiry will be
outlined by cabinet ministers later on Tuesday, Trudeau said.
National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations Perry
Bellegarde said violence had plagued Aboriginal communities for
too long.
"We know it's time to end the violence. We know it's time to
end that violence in our communities and amongst our families
... it has to stop," he said before Trudeau addressed the
gathering.
Critics have said an inquiry would likely take years to
complete and cost millions of dollars, while its eventual
recommendations will echo previous inquiries on inequalities
faced by indigenous communities and lack enforcement power.