Posted on 14 May 2009
OTTAWA – In Senate Question Period on Wednesday May 13, Liberal Senator Lillian Eva Dyck (Saskatchewan) pressed the government to act, following a report by the Native Women's Association of Canada, which found that a staggering 520 Aboriginal women and girls have been murdered or gone missing in Canada since 1970.
“I doubt that anyone has heard of or remembers Tamra Keepness, who went missing five years ago when she was only 5 years old. Coldly, it is still called a "cold case." As I have said in the chamber in the past, the issue of murdered and missing Aboriginal women and children has not captured the hearts, spirits and minds of mainstream Canada,” said Senator Dyck.
“Over the last three years, three young women (Jennifer Catcheway, Claudette Osborne and Amber McFarland) under the age of 25 years old have gone missing in Manitoba. My questions are: When will this stop? What will the government do to protect Aboriginal women and children? What will the government do to stop the murder of and missing Aboriginal women?”
“In October 2008 Amnesty International, with respect to the UN Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination of Women, recommended the federal government in Canada lead a coordinated effort to address violence against indigenous women in Canada. What has the government done to address this particular recommendation?”
With incidents on the rise, the government has a responsibility to the families of the victims of these horrible crimes to take action.