Kelowna hosts vigil for missing and murdered Indigenous women

KELOWNA- A large group gathered in downtown Kelowna today to honour missing and murdered Indigenous women.

Representatives from nations around British Columbia came together with students from UBC Okanagan and Okanagan College to organize the annual vigil; the fifth of its kind in the city. The gathering included prominent speakers from Canada’s First Nations and prayers dedicated to women around the province who have been killed.

Laurie Wilson, who lost her friend Roxanne Louie in early 2015, attended and spoke at the event. She says there is a big systematic issue in Canada when it comes to dealing with missing Indigenous women.

“You can’t imagine what the families are going through until you face it yourself; Canada has created a place where we are dehumanized and devalued,” says Wilson.

A recent Stats Canada report found that Aboriginal females accounted for 16 percent of all homicide victims since 1980; a rate 4.5 times higher than any other group of women in Canada.