Greater Sudbury police unveils MMIWG toolkit

Greater Sudbury Police Services just unveiled a toolkit and resource guide to help move forward on cases involving missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

The Indigenous Women and Girls Missing Persons Toolkit and Resource Guide was unveiled Thursday after a few years of planning and partnering between the GSPS, First Nations communities and families. 

It's a booklet, which contains information to help families when dealing with this sort of situation. It includes information on how to file a missing persons report, phone numbers for community resources, tips for dealing with social media and even resources for emotional support.

"There's elements in there that will help Greater Sudbury Police Service respond to missing person investigations but it's also adding elements of emotional supports," Shannon Agowissa,  the Aboriginal Liaison Officer with GSPS, told CBC News. "There's social media tips, there are self care options laid out." 

The toolkit is meant for families to take with them when dealing with crisis. 

"Sometimes when they're in crisis and they're trying to take in information, there may be information that the police officer says on scene but sometimes not all of it gets taken in, so this is meant for people to take with them after to answer any questions they might have," said Agowissa.

Another hope for the toolkit is that it helps to break down the barriers between First Nations and the GSPS and provide more transparency, Paul Pedersen, Sudbury's police chief said. 

"This is not something that we're forcing on anybody, it's an offering, we hope that those who take that offering take it with an open heart," he said.

Indigenous leaders in attendance applauded the toolkit and resource guide, saying that Greater Sudbury is being proactive. The toolkit comes just months after the final report of the Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

"The launch of this toolkit is connected to the justice and policing calls to action and so it's important to acknowledge that the Sudbury region is being proactive," RoseAnne Archibald, the Regional Chief of the Assembly of First Nations Ontario, said. "They're not waiting for somebody to tell them this needs to be done, this is something they've been working on for a long time." 

"This really speaks to the great love and care that people have for Indigenous women in this area, that they're doing this kind of work, that they're reaching out to the Indigenous community to partner up on how to work together to address the issue of MMIWG," Archibald said.

While the toolkit is being applauded by many First Nations in the area, Chief Valerie Richer of Atikameksheng Anishnawbek said she also wishes it wasn't needed.

"I wish this was a waste of their time and that we didn't need this document, but sadly we do because there are murdered and missing Indigenous women and that continues to plague our communities," Richer said. "We need to do something about it so I'm really happy to see the work that they've undertaken and that they continue to do."