Mural dedicated to MMIWG torn down with police headquarters demolition

MMIWG mural in Winnipeg demolished A popular mural dedicated to missing and murdered Indigenous women has been demolished. CTV’s Jordan Haslbeck reports.

Winnipeg — A mural dedicated to missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, which was painted on the parking garage next to the old police headquarters building was torn down Wednesday.

The city is demolishing both buildings and with it comes the painting entitled Nibaa, which was done by Mike Valcourt.

"Today I feel good about it. Yesterday (Tuesday) was a different story when people started telling me that it was coming down," Valcourt told CTV News.

Valcourt painted the mural in 2017 and said he knew it would eventually be demolished, adding the demolition helped him decide what the mural would be.

"The inner meaning behind the mural is that the disappearance of the women and girls coincides with the disappearance of the mural as well."

The mural was painted as part of the Wall to Wall Mural and Cultural Festival in 2017 and Valcourt said the most important part of the mural was the awareness it created.

"I know from what I read and what I see on TV, that this is ongoing and that this continues. But there's a lot of awareness and a lot of hope and one of the movements is being resilient and being strong."

Valcourt added some people are disappointed the mural is gone, but he knew that was always the plan and he is happy it's in its final stages.

The city says the demolition of the building is expected to be finished by September.