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People don't usually talk about domestic violence in Little Red River. Some residents attribute this silence to fear and a lack of institutional support. Little Red River includes more than 5,000 people, but it has no women's shelter, it is served by a single psychologist who visits only once a month, and the nearest towns—Fort Vermilion and High Level—are at least an hour's drive away.Getting mental health and addiction services is a particular struggle in rural Alberta, said Dr. Richard Starke, who led a review of rural health care ordered by the Alberta government last fall. The committee's final report was released this week and the government says its already taking action to improve access, including the development of a provincial model for EMS delivery and the creation of 10 operational districts to improve community involvement in decision making.Dr. Starke said it's challenging, "particularly in remote areas and John D'or Prairie, of course, being in the most northerly part of the province.""All we have is our family," says community member Darlene McLean.This silence has consequences. According to the National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Health, an unwillingness to identify domestic violence is one reason such violence is relatively more widespread in rural communities like Little Red River. Another is a dearth of social services including mental health resources. And there is another effect: information consolidated by the federal Department of Justice shows that aboriginal people charged with this type of violence are relatively more likely to see the charges dropped or be found not guilty, in part because the victims are reluctant to come forward.
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In recent weeks, the Loonskin family says the community's grief has mixed with a new emotion: fear. On March 6, a friend called Maria to report that she'd seen Tallcree stepping off the Northern Express bus in High Level, Alberta, a 90-minute drive west of John D'or.Tallcree has a criminal record. In March 2006, he pleaded guilty to pointing a firearm. Two months after that, he pleaded guilty to failing to stop a vehicle, evading an officer, driving with no insurance, and failing to hold a valid operator's license. In December 2007, he pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault and one count of unlawful confinement; for this, he was barred from possessing firearms for ten years and sentenced to 48 months in prison. In 2012, he pled guilty to assault and failure to comply.The charges laid against him in connection with Malena's death had been stayed, so Tallcree had been released. "There was no reasonable likelihood of conviction," said Alberta Justice department spokesperson Michelle Davio via email. "Information from key witnesses was found to be unreliable, which further impacted the ability of the Crown to proceed."Stayed charges can be recommenced within one year of being stayed.Maria says no one called to notify her that Tallcree had been released and might be on his way back to his community. Her friend's courtesy call had come as a shock. She says she confirmed his release with an official days later. RCMP spokesperson Josée Valiquette says an investigator notified a family member on March 6, although she wasn't sure with whom the investigator spoke. The family denies receiving the call. Maria says she wasn't told until she called herself. Valiquette says an investigator did speak with Maria a few days later, on March 10.
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Tallcree is not the only focus of the Loonskin family's anger. The charges laid against him in connection with Malena's death have been stayed, and the Loonskin family blames this on a shoddy investigation.Malena was reported missing on June 23 to the North Peace Tribal Police Service, who the family says told them they had to wait 72 hours for an investigation to begin, but that they were allowed to start a search on their own. Valiquette says the Tribal Police handled the first three days of her disappearance and the RCMP was only called in when the case was deemed a homicide investigation and no longer a missing persons investigation, as she says is standard when there is a police service with jurisdiction.
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Malena now belongs to a group of more than 1,100 aboriginal women in Canada who have gone missing or been murdered since 1980. The number continues to grow. Across the country, Canadians have called for a national public inquiry into this issue. The government continues to say no. Malena's family and friends are now joining in this call.
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