March 28, 2017 - 12:46 PM
OTTAWA - The long-awaited national inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women and girls will hold its first hearing with families on May 29 in Whitehorse.
Over the next two months, commissioners will hold a series of regional advisory meetings across the country to get input from survivors and families.
The meetings — mandated in the inquiry's terms of reference — will take place in Whitehorse, northern B.C., Saskatoon, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Thunder Bay and Halifax.
The inquiry plans to spend three days in each location meeting with families and survivors, front-line organizations and regional bodies.
The Liberal government has earmarked $53.8 million for the study over two years.
A number of indigenous leaders and groups, including the Native Women's Association of Canada, have expressed concern about the pace of the inquiry's work so far.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2017