Elizabeth May, MP for Saanich–Gulf Islands and Leader of the Green Party of Canada, released the following statement to commemorate the National Day of Action for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQ+ people:
“I feel a tremendous sense of urgency as we recognise this year’s National Day of Action for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQ+ people. It is also known by the name Sisters in Spirit Day, where vigils and gatherings are held to honour all those lost.
Wellness checks often become sites of murder, where those who reach out for help are instead treated as violent safety risks by armed officers. Creating infrastructure for resource extraction leads to ‘man camps’, which overwhelmingly generate conditions for the violent abuse of Indigenous people in the area.
The Final Report of the National Inquiry into MMIWG2S was released in 2019. The 231 calls to justice clearly lay out the path forward, however Indigenous people continue to go missing on a regular basis. We need a guaranteed liveable income to ensure the security and safety of women, girls and two-spirited people. Watch the clip below from earlier this year, where I demanded that the government implement a Red Dress Alert system to help raise alarms when someone goes missing.”