Woman or girl slain every 2.5 days in Canada in 2018, new report finds

CP train blocked in Toronto, March 12, 2014.

The report found that 148 women and girls were killed in 133 incidents in 2018

The Canadian Press, Jan 30, 2019

A woman or girl was killed every 2.5 days on average in Canada last year, according to an inaugural report on femicide that argues the issue must be better understood in order to reduce the number of slayings.

Indigenous youth set up protest camp outside Toronto’s Old City Hall

From left, Dean Mcleod, Koryn John, Ezra Green and Gary Wassaykeesic at the Soaring Eagles camp outside of Old City Hall in Toronto. (Rhiannon Johnson/CBC )

Soaring Eagles Camp aims to raise awareness about injustices faced by Indigenous people across Canada

By Rhiannon Johnson, CBC News, March 6, 2018

Following the Justice for Tina Fontaine rally this past Sunday in Toronto, a youth-led occupation has set up camp outside Old City Hall in downtown Toronto.

The group set up three tents Sunday on the southwest portion of the grounds of the building that currently functions as a provincial courthouse.

Raymond Cormier found not guilty in death of Tina Fontaine

Tina Fontaine.

The Crown had argued that Cormier convicted himself with his own admissions on secret police recordings. But the defence said numerous forensic holes in the prosecution’s case had left reasonable doubt.

By Bill Graveland, The Canadian Press, Feb. 22, 2018

WINNIPEG—A not-guilty verdict Thursday for a man who had been accused of killing a 15-year-old First Nations girl he met on the streets prompted immediate reaction from Indigenous leaders who criticized the safety nets that were supposed to keep her safe.

Response plan for missing Indigenous women and girls being developed in Fort St. John, B.C.

People in Fort St. John march for Sisters in Spirit, a group for missing and murdered Indigenous women organized by Connie Greyeyes. (Fort St. John Sisters in Spirit/Facebook)

Plan comes after to Amnesty International report documenting problems in northeast B.C.

By Andrew Kurjata, CBC News, Nov 15, 2017

The Fort St. John Women’s Resource Society is developing a plan aimed at improving community response when Indigenous women and girls go missing in northeast B.C.

The plan is a direct response to a 2016 Amnesty International report documenting the risks Indigenous women and girls face in northeast B.C., and Fort St. John in particular.

Families walk B.C. Highway of Tears to honour missing, murdered Indigenous women

Billboard warning girls not to hitchhike on the Highway of Tears (Highway 16) where many young women have gone missing. This is just north of Smithers. Steve Bosch / Vancouver Sun

by Laura Kane, Associated Press, September 20, 2017

When Gladys Radek walks the Highway of Tears, she says she can feel the spirits of women who are missing or have been murdered walking beside her.

Dozens have vanished or been killed along the notorious stretch of Highway 16 in central British Columbia. On Thursday, Radek will honour the 12th anniversary of the disappearance of her niece, Tamara Lynn Chipman, by walking the route once again.

Mural: No More Stolen Sisters

Isha Jules in Enderby, BC, at the mural painted to raise awareness that there are 3 missing women in the area since last year. The three women went missing within a month & a half of each other.  Caitlin Potts, Ashley Simpson and Deanna Wertz all missing for 12-16 months now.  All from within Splatsin First Nation and Secwepmeculu.

One-quarter of all female homicide victims in Canada in 2015 were Indigenous

Hundreds of family and supporters of missing and murdered women gathered at the University of Winnipeg to honour their memories and to call for action. CTV Winnipeg.

Indigenous women also continue to be over-represented in justice system, says Statistics Canada report

CBC News, June 6, 2017

The homicide rate for Indigenous females between 2001 and 2015 was nearly six times higher than that for non-Indigenous females, according to a new study by Statistics Canada.

MMIW inquiry opens with story of Mary Johns, a mother and residential school survivor

Mary John, victim of a serial killer in 1982.

APTN National News, May 30, 2017

The long-awaited start to the murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls national inquiry began with the story of Mary Johns who was murdered by a serial killer and buried in a potter’s field years before the family ever discovered her fate.

Jody Wilson-Raybould’s father calls missing and murdered inquiry a ‘bloody farce’

Hereditary chief Bill Wilson, Jody Wilson-Raybould’s father, says the commissioners of the missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls inquiry should be replaced. (Facebook)

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ‘should fire these people,’ says hereditary B.C. chief

By Catharine Tunney, CBC News, May 24, 2017

Bill Wilson, a hereditary chief and the father of federal Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould, says the national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls is a “bloody farce” and the commissioners leading it need to be replaced.

Frustrated families vow to ‘blockade’ missing and murdered inquiry hearings

Jocelyn Wabano-Iahtail, right, comforts Shirley Gunner, as John Fox looks on during a news conference regarding the missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls national inquiry in Ottawa. (Justin Tang/Canadian Press)

Father of murdered woman says inquiry is at a ‘crisis’ point

By John Paul Tasker, CBC News, May 23, 2017

Some family members of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls are vowing to blockade meetings of the national inquiry to protest what they call a disastrous start.

“We are prepared to take blockades against this inquiry, if it goes through our communities we will be there, it doesn’t matter where,” John Fox told reporters Tuesday.