Stephen Harper Prime Minister of Canada talks at a news conference
IN PHOTO: Stephen Harper Prime Minister of Canada talks at a news conference with Prime Minister of New Zealand John Key after bilateral talks in Auckland, November 14, 2014. Reuters/Stringer

The Canadian government may be sued if a national inquiry on the aboriginal women and girls, who went missing and were killed, is not held. Former Liberals in the Senate have expressed willingness to offer legal assistance for anyone who takes the government to the court.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative government is apparently not willing to pay attention to opposition parties, civil-liberty organisations and aboriginal groups who are constantly appealing to the government to hold the inquiry. According to Sen. Serge Joyal, there was no other way but to take the government to court, National Post reported. He said that it was a way to pressurise the government in a more efficient way. The government will have to defend its stand in court while it will be "shamed by public opinion," he said. Joyal said that this might pressurise the Harper government to act on the issue.

Joyal supported the legal argument for an inquiry with several sections from the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples along with other legal cases. Joyal is working with his colleague Lillian Dyck to find someone who will drag the government to Federal Court. The best person to do so is someone who has been directly aggrieved or the one who has a direct interest, he said.

Even though such a case is expected to take a lot of time in court, Joyal and Dyck said that the more important thing was the pressure the government might feel due to the court case, which could be an "aspect of shaming." The case may also alert Canadians that aboriginal women in Canada have the right to protection, they said. That is why there should be increased pressure for their protection. Joyal and Dyck, on the other hand, said that the formal complaint might not come from an organisation. However, this may be the right time to pressure the local MPs since the election is approaching, they said.

The Conservatives have so far appealed against holding the inquiry. They claim that there have already been several studies on the issue.

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@ibtimes.com.au