As a search for the landfill ends and it is planned to start another, a MMIWG defender says that the implementation throughout the country of the red clothing alert and address “systemic racism” could prevent the agony of such searches that need them to need to happen again.
“We know that when someone is missing, time is an essence to locate them and find it safely,” said Hilda Anderson-Pyrz, a member of Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation in Manitoba and president of the National Family Circle and Survivors.
Manitoba is in the process of launching the pilot of red dress alert, which will provide a notification to people’s mobile phones when an indigenous person, girl, two spirit or diverse person disappears, similar to how an amber alert works.
“They should be looking at the following phase to, together with the federal government, completely implement the [alert] … and resort properly to ensure that it is long term and sustainable, “said Anderson-Pyrz.
“We will fight for those resources, because what the red clothing alert means in this country is very powerful for indigenous women, girls and children.”
But even that is only the beginning of what needs to be done, said Anderson-Pyrz, who immersed himself in the issue of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls when his sister’s body, Dawn Anderson, was found in November 2011 outside his home in the city of Leafs de Leafs in northern Manitoba.
Many people who disappear do so due to systems “who continue to provide services and support under colonial policies,” said Anderson-Pyrz.
The families took two years of defense before the search for the remains of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran in the Green Prairie landfill of private property, north of Winnipeg, began in December 2024.
Partial remains They were discovered in FebruaryAnd the workers remained in the site in an effort to find more, before the search concluded on July 9.
Anderson-Pyrz said that it should not have taken so long or required so much effort to finally happen a search.
“If we take into account these systems, we would not have to fight in the front line, families would not have to advocate on the first line for the dignity of their loved ones, to take them home, to honor them at the ceremony,” he said. “We need to look at systemic racism within police surveillance, [because] This is where it is finally derived. “
Police have been criticized by indigenous groups for being too fast to rule out their concerns, label missing girls as fugitives or conduct inappropriate investigations.
In Winnipeg, the search approach now changes to Brady Road’s landfill, owned by the city, where workers will look for the remains of Ashley Shingoose.
Shingoose, who was given the name of Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe, or Buffalo’s wife, before being identified, was one of the four women of the first nations killed by Jeremy Skibicki in 2022. He was convicted of four first degree murder positions last year.
The partial remains of Rebecca Contois, the other skibicki victim, were located in Brady Road’s landfill in 2022.
Provincial and municipal governments throughout the country must find the political will to promote a transformative change, said Anderson-Pyrz.
“Look at this crisis from a prevention lens: how to mitigate the risks associated with indigenous women, girls and people of two spirits and gender in Canada, and also to ensure that there is a policy, legislation and responsibility mechanisms … how the justice system responsible for these perpetrators of violence,” he said.
“There cannot be a two -level system in Canada, one for indigenous women, where we are devalued and another for the rest of society.”
Anderson-Pyrz said he has “many mixed emotions” when he thinks about the situation that exists for many people from the first nations. Progress are being made, but there is “continuous violence … rooted in systemic and structural racism,” he said.
“I feel angry, you know, hope and also the determination to continue advocating the mechanisms of responsibility in Canada.”
