Vigil and calls for a national inquiry on Canada’s missing, murdered Indigenous women and girls

A vigil in Ottawa on Parliament Hill for an Indigenous Inuk woman Loretta Saunders found dead February 28 was the latest demonstration calling for a national inquiry into the hundreds of Indigenous women and girls who have gone missing or were murdered in Canada in recent decades.

Loretta Saunders, was found on a highway median, after disappearing from her home two weeks earlier. The university student had been working on a thesis on missing and murdered indigenous women.

Demonstrations on this and other Indigenous issues, by the Indigenous “Idle No More” movement, and more international scrutiny by international human rights bodies, has brought this issue more into Canadian public consciousness. But community leaders say, not enough.

RCI’s Wojtek Gwiazda spoke to Michèle Audette of the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWCA) about the vigil, the association’s calls for a national federal inquiry into violence against Indigenous women, and about a major shift in attitudes within the Indigenous communities of Canada.

More information:
Globe and Mail – Ottawa vigil to honour Loretta Saunders and missing native women – here
CTV News – Vigil held on Parliament Hill for murdered Halifax student Loretta Saunders – here
Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWCA) website – www.nwac.ca
CBC News/Darryl Leroux – Pattern of violence against indigenous women must stop, says Saunders’ professor – here

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