Tina Fontaine died because police, CFS failed her, family says

Tina Fontaine.

Officers investigated after having contact with — and letting go of — teen who was reported missing

CBC News, Sept 25, 2014

Police officers saw and spoke to Tina Fontaine on the last night the 15-year-old was seen alive in Winnipeg, before her body was found in the Red River in August.

Police Chief Devon Clunis told media on Thursday that officers came across Fontaine as part of a traffic stop on Aug. 8. She was in a car being driven by a man who was allegedly drunk.

“They took the drunk driver, but they let everybody else go who was in the car,” said Thelma Favel, Fontaine’s great-aunt and caregiver for much of her short life.

Aboriginal women, girls targets for human trafficking, says new report

CP train blocked in Toronto, March 12, 2014.

Trafficking report found a deep distrust of the police among many aboriginal women and girls

By Steve Rennie, The Canadian Press, Sept 19, 2014

Aboriginal women and girls are easy prey for human traffickers because they are more likely to suffer from poverty, drug addictions and mental-health problems, says a newly disclosed report.

Cody Legebokoff sentenced to life on 4 counts of 1st degree murder

Victims of serial killer Cody Legebokoff.

Legebokoff is one of Canada’s youngest serial killers

CBC News, Sept 16, 2014

A B.C. Supreme Court justice in Prince George, B.C., has sentenced Cody Alan Legebokoff to life in prison with no parole for 25 years on four counts of first-degree murder.

The 24-year-old was convicted in the slayings of Loren Donn Leslie, Jill Stacey Stuchenko, Cynthia Frances Maas and Natasha Lynn Montgomery, who died in 2009 and 2010.

Cree elder trek to press for national inquiry into missing, murdered aboriginal women

Cree elder Emil Bell.

Emil Bell began walking on Tuesday to press for a national inquiry into missing and murdered Aboriginal women

The Canadian Press/CBC News,  Aug 27, 2014

A Cree elder in northern Saskatchewan has set out on a 400-kilometre walk to press for a national inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women.  Emil Bell started his Beauval-to-Saskatoon trek on Tuesday, carrying a petition that asks the federal government to hold the inquiry.

Bell says he decided to make the walk after hearing about the death of Tina Fontaine, a 15-year-old aboriginal girl whose body was found in a bag floating in the Red River near a downtown Winnipeg dock earlier this month.

Database Website for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women

Bella Laboucan-Mclean.

Launch of Website for Community-led Database for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women on Anniversary of Bella Laboucan-Mclean’s Death

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE,  July 16, 2014

As Indigenous peoples, working for justice for #MMIW is a process that starts within our own communities. The launch of this  website is one example of the resurgence of community documentation as justice.

1,181 Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women in Canada since 1980: RCMP Report

Train blockade near Marysville, Ontario, March 19, 2014.

RCMP report on missing and murdered aboriginal women says native women are 4.3% of female population, but 16% of female homicides

Steve Lambert, Canadian Press/National Post, May 16, 2014

An RCMP report says aboriginal women have been much more prone to violent death than non-natives, but police have solved cases involving both groups at almost the same rate.

The 22-page report into murdered and missing aboriginal women paints a dark picture of poverty, unemployment and other factors that the Mounties say requires a response from all Canadians.

RCMP not denying report of 1,000 murdered, missing aboriginal women

CP train blocked in Toronto, March 12, 2014.

APTN reports RCMP arrived at tally after contacting other police forces across Canada

CBC News/The Canadian Press, May 1, 2014

The Mounties are not disputing a report that they have identified more than 1,000 cases of missing and murdered aboriginal women and girls — hundreds more than previously thought.

The Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, citing an anonymous source, reported that the RCMP arrived at their tally after contacting more than 200 other police forces across the country.

APTN also reported the Public Safety Department is sitting on a copy of the RCMP report, which the network says was supposed to come out March 31.

John Boots arrested for Tyendinaga train blockades

OPP at the CN railway near Tyendinaga, Mohawk Territory (in Ontario), March 8, 2014.

CTV News/The Canadian Press, March 24, 2014

NAPANEE, Ont. — Provincial police say they have charged a man in connection with two protests that occurred this month in Tyendinaga Township in eastern Ontario.

John Boots, 43, of Akwesasne First Nation, was arrested on Saturday and charged with two counts of mischief.

Protest for Indigenous women and girls halts rail traffic near Tyendinaga

Women from Tyendinaga lead blockade of VIA Rail train, March 19, 2014.

APTN National News, March 19, 2014

Rail traffic has been halted between Montreal and Toronto after a protest near Tyendinaga triggered a shut down of CN Rail’s main line tracks beginning Tuesday evening to pressure the federal government to call a national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women.

Via Rail blockade by First Nations halts Montreal-Toronto trains

Train blockade near Marysville, Ontario, March 19, 2014.

Protesters in Marysville, Ont., seek to draw attention to missing and murdered aboriginal women

CBC News, March 19, 2014

Protesters near the Tyendinaga Mohawk reserve in southern Ontario have blocked the Montreal-Toronto Via Rail line to draw attention to missing and murdered aboriginal women.