I'm sure the practical value is very close to zero, but I think acknowledging that an injustice was done, and acknowledging the government's role in it, is important.
I also think the police participation in Toronto's Pride Parade is important, for more or less the same reason. As I understand it, police antagonism of Toronto's gay community was a foundational cause of Toronto's gay rights marches that spurred gay rights activism across Canada. Police participation now kind of says "never again" and "we're on your side now, bro."
As for the MMIW... I have a strong hunch that by far the biggest threat to aboriginal women is aboriginal men. If the inquiry reaches that finding... is that going to make people happy?
-k
Well, I guess introductions are not necessary, therefore no need to wade in.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/70-per-cent-of-murdered-aboriginal-women-killed-by-indigenous-men-rcmp-confirms/article23868927/Anyway, of course it's FN's men doing the killing of FN's women...FN's men are killing other FN's men too...and FN's women can be pretty violent as well. Every study that has been done has come to that conclusion, the problem is; that's not the info that people want. That's not what JT or Gord Downey want to hear, but it's not only fact, it's logical sense. Most killing, regardless of race, is perpetuated by members of that persons own race. In that study, it shows that 70% of FN"s women are killed by FN"s men, it also shows that 64% are killed by people they know. I haven't checked, but these numbers are probably in line with most other murders or a certain race. Frankly, I'm surprised that the %'s aren't higher, but then it occurred to me that in my experiance, many Fn's, because of their lower financial standings, hang out with lower income white men - meaning that any killing of FN's women is more of a "class" problem, than a racial one. It is family or community violence, it's hitchhikers being killed by scumbags, it's prostitutes, it's crimes of alcohol...or passion, it's trying to cover up a
****...it's many things, but it's not racism.
IOW, there aren't any "middle or upper class, white, racist men" going around killing FN"s women.