Finding a solution to Saskatchewan missing persons cases

REGINA – “My daughter takes the bus or I drive her,” said Dorthea Swiftwolfe.

The missing persons liaison and assistant coordinator of victim services for the Saskatoon Police department explained that she doesn’t let her 15 year old daughter go to school on her own.

“At least that way I know she’s at school; I know where she is. She knows she’s supposed to stay in school until I pick her up after,” she said. “That fear is there because I am a mother and I do have daughters and just the fact that they’re Aboriginal raises that concern for me.”

Swiftwolfe said she’s raised her daughter to stand up for herself, but doesn’t trust other people in the community will watch out for her: “Sometimes people in the community have a tendency to turn a blind eye to something that’s occurring.”

There are 122 people missing in Saskatchewan. The majority are children and youth, mostly runaways. Missing Aboriginal women and girls are also a focus after the round table in Ottawa in February.

“One of the things we found to be very important is how we can find culturally sensitive solutions. I think that was the key thing that we took away from that,” said Justice Minister Gordon Wyant.

“People in the community have a tendency to turn a blind eye to something that’s occurring.”

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Some solutions could be found elsewhere. In Alberta, the RCMP registers street workers and collects their DNA, for a database. The idea is to protect women and men and prevent human trafficking.

“Whether it’s DNA, or people who are living a high-risk lifestyle, it’s important, so everything that Alberta or Manitoba or British Columbia are looking at, we’re absolutely looking at here,” said assistant commissioner Brenda Butterworth-Carr, F-division commanding officer.Finding a solution to Saskatchewan’s missing persons cases

This is the third annual missing person’s awareness week. Throughout the week, community events, including film screenings, are taking place throughout the province.