Members of the Reconciliation Advisory Committee and City Hall members. (Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

October 4th to commemorate missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Lethbridge

Sep 18, 2019 | 6:00 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Lethbridge City Council has voted unanimously to proclaim October 4th, 2019 as “Sisters in Spirit Day”.

It coincides with Amnesty International’s Sisters in Spirit Vigil, which honours the lives of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) across Canada.

Reconciliation Advisory Committee Co-Chair Amanda Scout believes the proclamation is important because it acknowledges the fact that this happens in Southern Alberta too and is not isolated to places like B.C.’s Highway of Tears.

“There are lots of families affected by the missing and murdered. We’re very connected people, connected to each other, so when that happens, it affects all of us. We do have family members here – Kaylee’s mom was a victim 20 years ago, so yeah, it’s important that we acknowledge that.”

City Councillor Belinda Crowson introduced the motion to council on Monday as she said the city needs to take more firm actions on this travesty.

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She cited the Calls for Justice provided by the Inquiry into MMIWG.

“The inquiry found that indigenous women and girls are 12 times more likely to be murdered or go missing than members of any other demographic group in Canada and 16 times more likely to be killed or disappear than a white woman such as myself.”

Mayor Chris Spearman commended Crowson for taking the initiative on this matter and for helping to continue the process of reconciliation.

“The City of Lethbridge believes that we should be doing more to protect Indigenous women and making sure that this issue is one of the past. We want to make sure people feel safe in our city, of all types, and make sure that we acknowledge that these things took place and that that’s not acceptable.”

The local Amnesty International group is hosting their annual vigil on Friday, October 4th.

It will have a street march from Lethbridge City Hall to Galt Gardens at 6:30 pm and a memorial and vigil at the park at 7:00 pm. More details here.