Harper Again Rejects Call for Inquiry Into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women in Canada

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has once again rejected a call to conduct a national inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women, saying "we are way past the time for further study."

Harper, who is running for re-election, was asked Tuesday by VICE's Matty Matheson at a rally in Whitby, Ontario, whether he would change his position on the UN-requested inquiry.

"Our government position on this has been very clear," said Harper. "We have moved forward with a whole series of criminal justice reforms that deal with the problems of violence against people generally, violence against women in particular."

Harper said there have already been about 40 studies on the topic, and that the ruling Conservatives were moving forward with a plan of action that "deals with issues of prevention, investments in preventative services, particularly on reserves, that deals with issues of inquiry, of investigation."

"Most of these murders, sad as they are, are in fact solved," he said. "We are way past the time for further study, this is a time for action, and our government is going to proceed with our action plan."

In a 2014 report, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) found 1,107 Aboriginal women had been murdered and another 164 went missing between the years 1980 and 2012. It surveyed data from all police jurisdictions across the country.

As of June 2015, 106 murder and 98 missing cases remained unresolved, according to the RCMP.

This means about 90 percent of the murder cases have been solved.

According to the report, solve rates between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal homicide victims are comparable, but they differ depending on the province.....................

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