Marion Buller

Marion Buller, CM, civil, criminal and human rights lawyer; judge; public speaker; and advocate for Indigenous rights in Canada (born 5 July 1953). Buller helped to create the First Nations Courts in British Columbia and was the first woman Indigenous judge in British Columbia. Buller has held several high-profile positions, including director and president of the Indigenous Bar Association in Canada and chief commissioner for the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. After retiring as a judge, Buller continues to write about Indigenous issues and, in 2022, was appointed chancellor of the University of Victoria.

Early Life and Education

Marion Buller is Cree and a member of the Mistawasis First Nation in Saskatchewan. Her paternal grandfather left the reserve, which meant that his children, including Buller’s father and ultimately Buller, avoided having to attend a residential school. Buller grew up in Toronto and visited her family in Saskatchewan every summer. While she eventually settled in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, she remains a proud member of the Mistawasis First Nation.

In 1975, Buller earned a bachelor’s degree in anthropology and then, in 1987, a law degree from the University of Victoria. She was admitted to the British Columbia bar in 1988.

Law and Public Advocacy

From 1988 to 1994, Marion Buller worked as a civil, criminal and human rights lawyer. She handled many cases but focused on those involving Indigenous issues and clients.

Buller was the commission counsel of the Cariboo-ChilcotinJustice Inquiry. This inquiry, created by the British Columbia government in 1992, was to determine the source of the problems in the relationship between members of the 15 bands of the Cariboo-Chilcotinregion, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the justice system. Retired provincial court judge Anthony Sarich led the inquiry. Buller and other members of the inquiry visited communities to hear stories of their encounters with police, while also considering written submissions. The inquiry’s final report was submitted on 15 September 1993 and made between 50 and 55 recommendations. At its core, the inquiry’s final report argued that Indigenous communities must be given the opportunity to create justice systems that are more consistent with Indigenous traditions.

On 11 October 1994, Buller was appointed to the Provincial Court of British Columbia, thereby becoming the first Indigenous woman to be appointed a judge in that province.

In 2006, Buller presided over the New Westminster First Nations Court in British Columbia. This was the first court of its kind. First Nations courts were created to better serve the needs of Indigenous peoples and their communities. These are sentencing courts that do not conduct trials. They provide support to assist in rehabilitation and to reduce the likelihood of reoffending. North Vancouver, Duncan and Kamloops later adopted this model to improve justice in their Indigenous communities.

Buller has served as a director and president of the Indigenous Bar Association. She was also the director of Law Courts Education Society (now called Justice Education Society), Law Foundation of British Columbia, Mediators Roster and Police Commission. She has written many articles on Indigenous law, criminal law, family law and human rights. In 2012, Buller was honoured with the University of Victoria Faculty of Social Sciences Distinguished Alumni Award.

Buller was among those who worked to address the overrepresentation of children in government care. In January 2017, her efforts contributed to British Columbia’s Children's Minister, Stephanie Cadieux, announcing the creation of the Aboriginal Family Healing Court. The program invited Elders to be involved in proceedings concerning Indigenous children and for the court to consider Indigenous cultural ceremony and treatment options.

Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls

On 31 August 2016, Marion Buller retired from the BC Provincial Court to become chief commissioner of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. Other commissioners were Michèle Audette, Qajaq Robinson, Marilyn Poitras and Brian Eyolfson.

The National Inquiry had a budget of $53.8 million. While there had been other inquiries into violence against Indigenous women and girls, this would be the first national inquiry. Its broad mandate was to explore all forms of violence related to Indigenous women and girls who were missing or murdered. It would include victims of suicide, sexual assault, self-harm, child abuse, domestic violence, bullying and harassment, and those who died under suspicious circumstances. The inquiry was to report on institutional policing and judicial practices that contributed to causing the crisis and were allowing it to continue.

In the first months of the inquiry’s work, critics complained about it moving slowly. Criticism grew when commissioner Marilyn Poitras and executive director Michèle Moreau resigned. Buller explained that the problems were mostly logistical and that some people left the inquiry because they were offered jobs or for personal reasons. Buller rejected calls for her resignation.

The National Inquiry examined past studies and police reports. Commissioners and their staffs devoted months to travelling the country to hear first-hand accounts from victims and the testimony of experts, elders and knowledge keepers.

The National Inquiry released its Interim Report on 1 November 2017. The federal government pledged to act upon the report’s recommendations, including the allocation of $50 million to improve health and support services to the survivors and families of missing and murdered women and girls, LGBTQ and two-spirit people. It also promised to begin reviews of police policies and to create a national oversight body at the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

The National Inquiry eventually heard presentations from 2,386 people. Its 1,200-page final report was released on 3 June 2019. The detailed document contained 231 calls for justice. At the ceremony where Buller sent a copy of the report to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, she said the calls to justice were not recommendations but legal imperatives. Buller has stated that the report was about “deliberate race, identity and gender-based genocide.” (See also Genocide and Indigenous Peoples in Canada.)

Critics have argued that the federal government is not acting on the inquiry’s recommendations in a meaningful way. On the third anniversary of the National Inquiry’s final report, on 3 June 2022, the Native Women's Association of Canada released an analysis stating that the violence against Indigenous women and girls was continuing and that the government was still doing little in response.