Each year, family members, Indigenous members of the community and concerned citizens gather for a vigil in October to honour the memory of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. Vigils took place in many communities across Canada including Hamilton, as well as internationally. I
This year, Unifor asked it members and allies to stand in solidarity with Indigenous families and communities to honour the lives of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls whose lives have been cut short by violence. A Unifor statement read, “Countless families and communities have been devastated by this national tragedy. The pain of loss and of justice denied echoes through Canada’s history, our present and will echo into our future if we fail to act.”
Vigils were held across the country this year, and concerned citizens and Indigenous community members gathered together to draw attention to this crisis and demand action from all levels of government to stop the violence. In Winnipeg, members took part in events and marched to the Legislature in a show of solidarity and support on Manitoba’s official inaugural day to honour missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.
According to a database compiled as part of a 2013 Ph. D. thesis, from 1946 to 2013, there were 824 missing or murdered Indigenous women identified. The RCMP’s 2014 National Overview said that the “number grew to almost 1,200 between 1980 and 2012