Aboriginal families received support from politicians and students alike at the sixth annual vigil for missing and murdered aboriginal women held on Parliament Hill Oct. 4.
The vigil was a call to action for the nearly 600 aboriginal women who have gone missing or murdered in Canada— a rate alarmingly higher than the national average of missing persons.
The protesters called for a national inquiry and a task force to look into the issue.
Several spectators were brought to tears as multiple aboriginal women spoke of the pain over the loss of family members, and their frustration with the police and government.
“When we received the apology for residential schools, there was so much hope that things would change. But several years later, I can tell you that nothing has changed,” said one family member angrily.
But the event wasn’t just a call from aboriginal families, as politicians and students also spoke out.
MP Francoise Boivin, status of women critic for the New Democratic Party, and MP Carolyn Bennett, aboriginal affairs critic for the Liberal party, also spoke at the rally, criticizing the Conservative government for what they said has been a lack of action.
“I think a lot of people behind me in that building, which is supposed to be the house of the people, need to get a heart,” Boivin said. “They need to get out from those walls and see reality and face reality, and listen, mostly listen.”
“It is almost insulting and inhumane to hear day after day [that] we are doing the right thing. We are not . . . Shame on us politician[s],” she said.
Bennett urged the government to introduce a national inquiry.
“If a 747 was falling out of the sky with the numbers of people we are now missing, there would be something done. We cannot sit idly by,” she said.
Bennett added that families should be involved in determining how funding is spent.
“If we don’t listen [and] partner with the people who know what needs to be done, the families and the friends of the women and girls that have been lost, we’re going to get it wrong,” Bennett said.
Students also rallied behind the families.
Rachel Linton, a second-year international development student at the University of Ottawa, said other students should fight to have this issue heard.
“Most students would rather sit, learn about things and discuss theories than actually do stuff [about it],” she said at the rally.
“We’re part of the next generation, and we all can play a part. We are young and have the ability to make a difference.”
Lana Dingwall, a fourth-year women’s and religious studies student at the U of O, said by attending rallies like this one, it’s hard for any student to remain apathetic.
“We learn about things like this all the time in class. We realized that it’s one thing to sit in a classroom and be outraged about it, but it’s another thing to stand up and take action,” she said at the rally.
The two students said they hope other students will take action on this issue by attending rallies for missing and murdered aboriginal women.
“You have to be empathetic to the cause when you listen to these women’s and families stories,” Linton said.
“That could easily be you. That could easily be your mother if you were just born in a different [race].”
