Toronto’s 7th Annual Rally for Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women
Rally Starts: Police Headquarters 40 College Street at Bay, Toronto, ON
Feast at the 519 Church Street Community Centre; 519 Church Street following the Rally.
Raising our Voices to Demand the United Nations Investigate Missing & Murdered Indigenous women in Canada
According to research conducted by the Native Women Association of Canada (NWAC) under the Sisters In Spirit Program, over 600 Indigenous women have been murdered or gone missing, most of them over the last 30 years.
Despite clear evidence that this is an ongoing issue, the federal government decided in the fall of 2010 to end funding to Sisters in Spirit. Instead monies in the amount of $10 million have been dedicated to a central RCMP missing person centre. The same institution - who, along with the Vancouver Police Department, failed to properly investigate Pickton in 1997 - is now at the centre of a public inquiry in Vancouver. The sham inquiry into the failed Pickton investigation has been boycotted by 20 of the 21 groups who were granted standing due to the denial of adequate funding for legal defense.
Pickton, who was convicted for six murders, has admitted to killing 49 women. A total of 18 murders occurred after he was arrested and released for the attempted murder of a sex worker in 1997. This is blood on police hands, yet RCMP officers testifying at the sham inquiry state “there are few things they would change about how they did their work.”
It should come as no surprise that the Committee to End Discrimination Against Women at the United Nations has accepted submissions put forward by advocates of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (DTES) as well as the Native Women’s Association of Canada and announced their intent to launch an inquiry into Canada’s missing and murdered Indigenous women.
This inquiry procedure is used to investigate what the Committee believes to be very serious violations of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. The Canadian government, however, must consent in order for this to move forward. Alongside groups across the country, Toronto’s February 14th organizing committee comprised of No More Silence, The Native Youth Sexual Health Network, The Native Women’s Resource Centre and other Indigenous and feminist organizations will be mobilizing at Police Headquarters at 12:30 pm to show our support for such an investigation.
On February 14th we come together in solidarity with the women who started this vigil over 20 years ago in Vancouver’s DTES, and with the marches and rallies that will be taking place across this land. We stand in defense of our lives and to demonstrate against the complicity of the state in the ongoing genocide of Indigenous women and the impunity of state institutions and actors (police, RCMP, coroners’ offices, the courts, and an indifferent federal government) that prevents justice for all Indigenous peoples.
OTHER CITIES
Calgary: Tuesday February 14 from 6:30pm – 8:30pm at United Scarboro Church (134 Scarboro Avenue SW). Speakers @ 6:30 p.m. March to begin @ 7:00 p.m. Light meal to follow. Open mike for families of Missing Loved ones. Facebook page linked here.
Edmonton: Tuesday February 14 from 7 pm – 9:30pm. Memorial March for all the Missing and Murdered Women of Edmonton outside Sacred Heart Church (10821 – 96 Street). Facebook page linked here.
Montreal: Tuesday February 14th Memorial March for Missing and Murdered Women on , 5:30pm at Cabot Square (St.Catherine and Atwater). Guests & Speakers will include: Michèle Audette (President of Québec Native Women QNW), Anna-Aude Caouette (STELLA), Karine Myrgianie Jean-François (Girls Action Foundation), South Asian Women’s Community Centre, Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal, Bridget Tolley (Sisters in Spirit), Tiohtiake Drum, Moe Clark. For more information contact Missing Justice at justiceformissing@gmail.com or 514-937-2110. Facebook page linked here
Ottawa: Tuesday, February 14, 2012 from 12:00pm until 1:00pm. Rally at Parliament Hill ~ Traditional Territory of the Algonquin Peoples. Show your love for families of missing and murdered Aboriginal women/girls. Bear witness to their stories of struggle and strength. Add your support to families’ calls for action, justice, accountability, and an end to violence. Confirmed speakers: Chief Gilbert Whiteduck of Kitigan Zibi, Pam & Fred Fillier parents of Hilary Bonnell, Fred Fillier Jr., younger brother of Hilary Bonnell. Facebook page linked here
Thunder Bay: Tuesday, February 14, 2012. March from 2:00pm until 5:30pm, meeting at City Hall. The walk will proceed north down May St up to Isabel St just past Silvercity Theatre, crossing the Intercity Mall parking lot, then cross the street at Fort William Road to the Lakehead Labour Centre where the we end the walk. Coffee, tea, hot chocolate and a light snack will be available and a few words by family members will be shared there. You are welcome to bring your own posters, signs and flags to carry in memory of a loved one. Contact Biidaajiwun Inc at 474-3542 or fullmoonmemorywalk@live.ca
Facebook page linked here
Toronto: Tuesday, February 14, 2012. Rally from 12:30pm until 1:30pm, Feast at the 519 Church Street Community Centre following the rally. This year we will be Raising our Voices to Demand the United Nations Investigate Missing & Murdered Indigenous women in Canada. Alongside groups across the country, Toronto’s February 14th organizing committee comprised of No More Silence, The Native Youth Sexual Health Network, The Native Women’s Resource Centre and other Indigenous and feminist organizations will be mobilizing at Police Headquarters at 12:30 pm to show our support for such an investigation. On February 14th we come together in solidarity with the women who started this vigil over 20 years ago in Vancouver’s DTES, and with the marches and rallies that will be taking place across this land. We stand in defense of our lives and to demonstrate against the complicity of the state in the ongoing genocide of Indigenous women and the impunity of state institutions and actors (police, RCMP, coroners’ offices, the courts, and an indifferent federal government) that prevents justice for all Indigenous peoples. Facebook page linked here
Victoria: Sunday Feb 12. Memorial March for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. Begins in front of OUR PLACE (919 Pandora), marches down Government St and ends at Thunderbird Park. 11am – Gather for tea and coffee in front of Our Place (919 Pandora). 12pm – March to Thunderbird Park. 1pm – Speeches and Refreshments. Email feb.14.memorialmarch@gmail.com for more information or read full details on Facebook page linked here
Winnipeg: Tues Feb 14 from 5:30-7:30. Women’s Memorial March. Meet at University of Winnipeg- Bullman Centre (515 Portage). To stand together united as one strong voice, for those who are unable to sound their voice, the women who are missing or have been murdered. We wish to raise awareness and honour the missing or murdered women in support of their families and friends. Hot refreshments will be served. Please wear red or purple if possible. Facebook page linked here
![Poster has several black and white images of Asian women working in a factory. The top edge has a black bar with white text. It reads, “Women hold up half the sky.” The bottom right corner has a quote printed in black: “In order to build a great socialist society, it is of the utmost importance to arouse the broad masses of women to join in productive activity. Men and women must receive equal pay for equal work in production. Genuine equality between the sexes can only be realized in the process of the socialist transformation of society as a whole. Mao Tse-Tung 1955.” The phrase “Women hold up half the sky” was embraced by Mao Zedong and popularized both domestically and internationally during the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. [LMC]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lx6f2qO7sD1qzpcgro1_500.jpg)
