This morning I got up and thought, “Jeez, what would it be like to get up and not have to worry about one of our loved ones going missing or one of our loved ones being murdered?” That's the reality of indigenous moms and grandmothers in this country. No one else has to experience that.
Winnipeg is known as ground zero. If I could wake up in the morning and know that this is a safe country and a safe city for my daughter and granddaughter, I would be the happiest woman alive. We know there are disparities between representative political organizations, that there is limited funding and that the ones doing the work on the ground are families and survivors, so they need to have adequate resources.
We also have to support them going beyond the trauma. We can be stationary in this place and it doesn't serve the individual or the community in any way. When someone is murdered in our community, the perpetrator is not asking them if they're first nations or Métis or Inuit. They just know it is a vulnerable indigenous woman whose life they're taking.
I think we need to consider this, understand that the urban environment is different, take into account the communities that are already doing the work and support those communities in developing greater support and accessibility for our families.