Tla-o-qui-aht released 20 Calls To Action for the RCMP, BC Corrections and the Independent Investigation Office (IIO) on May 9 after a Missing and Murdered Indigenous People and Children Walk that weaved through all three of the First Nation’s communities, starting in the ancient village site of Opitsaht and ending in Esowista and Ty-Histanis.
Justice Manager Curtis Joseph (Tayiisimčił) says they wanted to include the men and children in this year’s Red Dress Walk as Tla-o-qui-aht people have lost male members at the hands of RCMP or while in corrections.
On February 27, 2021 two RCMP officers responded to a call that alleged a female was sexually assaulted and being held against her will by two males at an address in Opitsaht on Meares Island, according to a report from the IIO. This visit resulted in the shooting death of 28-year-old Julian Jones. Jones was the second Tla-o-qui-aht member to die during a police incident in less than two years.
In 2020 Chantel Moore, a 26-year-old mother, was killed by police in New Brunswick during a wellness check.
In Jones’ case, the IIO found the police to not be at fault.
Moore’s death was investigated by the Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes du Quebec. Based on the BEI’s findings, no charges were laid against the police officer who fatally shot the young woman.
The Tla-o-qui-aht Calls To Action include that RCMP get de-escalation training as an alternative to drawing a weapon (No. 8) and for the IIO to be culturally sensitive to Tla-o-qui-aht culture, history and needs (No. 9).
“It must see people as human beings, not just a police file,” reads Call To Action Number 9.
In an effort to improve public transparency and accountability, Tofino RCMP started being equipped with body-worn cameras around December 2024.
The IIO investigation into Julian Jones’ death also appointed a Tla-o-qui-aht member as a civilian monitor, who overlooked details of the process and filed a report to the office’s chief civilian director. This report stated that IIO investigators “were friendly but neutral”.
Despite these measures, the scale of tragedy in recent years is too much to bear, says Moore’s grandmother.
“We’ve lost too many. It’s been a rough road,” said Grace Frank during the May 9 Walk to Remember. “I’m really proud of the justice committee that has been put together in my nation, for all that you are doing to for our people and the loved ones that we’ve lost. It really hurts to see how many we have lost.”
Her grandson, Michael Martin, passed away in a jail cell five and a half months after Moore was fatally shot by police.
“My daughter is still dealing with what happened to my grandson. It’s taken too long to find out what happened to him,” she said. “It’s been a real struggle. I just want to say to be there for each other. Our family has been through a lot.”
Elder Dora Frank (yaawa) carried a poster asking, ‘What really happened to Iris Frank?’
Iris Frank was a young Tla-o-qui-aht teen when she went missing in Port Alberni in 1980. Weeks after she went missing, her remains were found – by her father – near the Paper Mill Dam on the Somass River, according to haw̓iiḥtaqumł (House of Wickaninnish).
“The police just kept saying, ‘She’ll come back’. They never did an investigation and they closed the case,” haw̓iiḥtaqumł told the Ha-Shilth-Sa.
Call To Action (Number 1) states the RCMP need to respond immediately when an Indigenous person is reported to be missing.
Tla-o-qui-aht women who are still missing incldue Edith Margaret Claver, who hasn’t been seen since 2009, and Lisa Marie Young, who went missing from Nanaimo on June 30, 2002.
“These calls to action are only a start for Tla-o-qui-aht and will grow until these ongoing injustices are recognized and addressed,” states the Tla-o-qui-aht Justice Committee.
Tofino RCMP Detachment Sergeant Owen Smith attended the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People and Children Day dressed in civilian clothes. He shared a table and ate lunch with Tla-o-qui-aht Chief Elmer Frank and Tofino Mayor Dan Law.
Speakers throughout the day also drew attention to Indigenous children in care and children that never returned home from residential school.
Tla-o-qui-aht Call To Action (Number 17) tasks the Provincial Court to advocate for children in care and (Number 20) calls on the provincial and federal governments to fund an investigation of the children who did not return home from residential school.
