On what they're calling the national day of vigils, protesters across the country are calling for an inquiry into Canada’s murdered and missing aboriginal women and girls.
Organizers say people gathered at more than 200 locations across the country Saturday, to demand action from the government.
According to an RCMP report released earlier this year, since 1980, more than 1,000 aboriginal females have been victims of homicide, many of which remain unsolved.
On Parliament Hill in Ottawa Saturday, Chief Gilbert Whiteduck of the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation stood between two family members of missing women as he addressed the crowd.
“No one can understand, like the families can understand, the pain, the questions that go unanswered, the anger, the forgiveness,” Whiteduck said.
“I find it deplorable that in a wonderful country like Canada we continue to see our indigenous First Nations women either killed or go missing.”
Federal Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau also spoke to the crowd gathered near the steps of Parliament.
“As we stand in front of this extraordinary building filled with history, we have to reflect that this building and all who serve in it have failed,” Trudeau said.
The Liberal leader then promised that his government, if elected, would hold a full national inquiry into the issue, which was met with applause from the audience.
The Conservatives, however, don’t share Trudeau’s views. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has rejected calls for an inquiry, saying his government will treat issue as crime, not as a “sociological phenomenon.”
And, while the RCMP are showcasing missing aboriginal women this week on their Canada’s Missing web page, their efforts fall short for people like Connie Greyeyes. The Cree woman from Alberta put herself in the shoes of her missing friend when she spoke to the Ottawa crowd.
“My good friend Stacy Rogers went missing when I was 16 years old, and she came to me and she asked me, why aren’t you looking for me anymore? Why is my face not on posters anymore? Why doesn’t anybody care?” Greyeyes said, suggesting those questions be put to Prime Minister Harper.
“Why do we have to come here and beg for you to notice us and to see us as people?” she continued.
Elsewhere in the province, protesters blocked parts of Highway 6 between Caledonia and Hagersville, Ont., and parts of Highway 49 near Prince Edward County.
The planned two-day closure was planned to coincide with the national day of vigils.
This is the ninth year a national day of vigils has been organized in Canada. The Ontario Association of Interval and Transition Houses website says there were 11 vigils held during the inaugural event in 2006, which had grown to more than 70 vigils across the country by 2009.
With files from the Canadian Press and a report from CTV's Katie Simpson
