Status of Women committee  With that situation, I'm not aware that anybody.... Nothing has been really put in place. We're such a grassroots organization that I only heard about this in the community. The community member was a business owner who witnessed this. There is nothing in place, so we're starting from the ground up to implement something that's going to keep these young girls safe.

Status of Women committee  There's really nothing in place. I know this for a fact from community workers who have tried to assist younger women and girls. There is nothing in place, and even when they do get reported missing, it's just not taken seriously.

Status of Women committee  Yes, 100%.

Status of Women committee  No.

Status of Women committee  Again, I mentioned how we have the highest population in B.C. of first nations people. I don't know that we even have any indigenous police in northern B.C. For a population of that size, we definitely need more indigenous police. Also, having that connection with.... I recently met with some new police officers in Terrace.

Status of Women committee  I can answer that. We look at the northeast of B.C. It's not officially the Highway of Tears but the Dawson Creek area where so many girls and some men are going missing. I have a friend who has two family members missing; they went missing less than a year apart. It's been an issue with extraction, and it continues to happen.

Status of Women committee  Yes.

Status of Women committee  Well, again, where is the accountability? We hear it from the family members. They say that there are 231 recommendations. Can we bite off, like, six or seven of those, and just implement them? It's just an extreme frustration that very little has been done. It seems to be very fragmented across the country as to who is speaking for the missing and murdered women and girls, like the families.

Status of Women committee  Yes, it's interesting. I know in the one project.... I do have sons who work in the industry, and, obviously not every single person is a perpetrator. My son told me he saw me on his training video this morning. I wasn't really even aware, but the work we do on the Highway of Tears is used in industry to train.

Status of Women committee  Yes. You bring up a really good point. I know an indigenous woman who is actually holding the company accountable directly. Our women need support in doing that, whether that comes from a government level.... She is now fighting on her own as just one person. They definitely need to be held accountable for not providing a safe environment.

Status of Women committee  Extremely urgent.

Status of Women committee  No.

Status of Women committee  Yes, 100%. There needs to be funding. We have all of these meetings. I know it has been a frustration for family members that we're always having meetings, yet very little action is happening. We need to have funding for a call centre—or whatever that looks like for the red dress alert—and to implement it and train people, whether they're family members or other indigenous people working with non-indigenous people.

Status of Women committee  Yes, absolutely. We have heard so many stories of sometimes really young girls—as young as 15—being held up in hotel rooms for two and three days at a time. They're picking up young girls and doing whatever they want with them. We're also finding that there are lots of foreigners, who are new to the country, who are also coming in and picking up our young girls and doing the same thing.

Status of Women committee  In Terrace we have a local friendship centre because we're considered an urban centre. Terrace is a hub to the northwest and we have approximately 27 surrounding first nations communities that all come to Terrace for their goods and services. We're definitely lacking in that area of even having any type of counselling available.