Rally Renews Call For Hwy Of Tears Inquiry

By Michelle Cyr-Whiting

Lake Babine Nation members, Kristine Batoche, Jaime Hunt, and

Wyonna Batoche, from Burns Lake sang two traditional songs at the rally

Prince George, B.C. -  Advocates for the 18 women missing and murdered throughout our region, many along the so-called Highway of Tears, are demanding the provincial and federal governments take action...

The crowd was not large at a rally outside the Prince George courthouse, but many of those in attendance had travelled hundreds of kilometres to be here...and many had direct connections to the Highway of Tears' victims.

Matilda and Brenda Wilson of Smithers (shown at left) are the mother and sister of 16-year-old Ramona Wilson, who went missing in that community back in June of 1994. Her remains were discovered a few months later behind the Smithers airport.  Today would have been Ramona's 32nd birthday.  

Brenda says she attended the rally to paint a personal picture of her little sister -- that of a girl who was a good listener and a peer counsellor to those having trouble. (click on photo at left to watch clip)

Wilson says she's so frustrated that her sister has been "put in one big basket of missing and murdered women" and somehow they're all perceived as bad because they went missing. Betty Joseph came to the rally in support of her cousin, Tom Chipman, who's 22-year-old daughter, Tamara, vanished from Highway 16 near Prince Rupert in September of 2005.  Joseph says she also knew a couple of the other missing young women from the Moricetown area.  She says there's no closure for the families...somehow they just have to try their best to keep on living.

Sai'kuz Chief, Jackie Thomas, says there are more than 500 aboriginal women missing across Canada and B.C. leads the country with more than 100 missing, province-wide.  She says she wants to know when the federal government is going to recognize this tragedy and do something to stop the violence.

To hear a portion of Thomas' speech to the crowd, click on photo at right...

The Director of the First Nations Centre at UNBC, Paul Michell, says there is something askew when billions of dollars are being spent to welcome the world to the Olympics, and these cases remain unsolved and the violence continues.

Michell is challenging the RCMP to keep pushing to solve the Highways of Tears cases and he's also issuing a call to aboriginal men to "step up" and resume their traditional protector roles.

Highway of Tears Coordinator, Mavis Erickson, says a request for a public inquiry was put to the provincial government back in October and there's still no word.  She urged rally participants to write to both the Attorney-General and Solicitor-General,  "to ask for the inquiry and to ask for answers."

Erickson says it was Ramona's mom, Matilda, who pointed out, "There are killers still out there that are free and they get to be free." 

Erickson says that thought has stayed with her, "And we just have to really step up our vigilance for our girls to stop the killings on the Highway of Tears."

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