Less than 12 hours after the Manitoba New Democrats swept the Progressive Conservatives to form a majority government, 231 red dresses jutted out from the lawn of the legislative grounds.
The paper cut-outs symbolize each call to justice from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.
On the National Day of Action for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Cathy Merrick called the day a mix of pain and joy.
Just hours earlier, premier-designate Wab Kinew addressed the media from his new post at the legislature.
“We elected an Anishinaabe premier of Manitoba and it’s historic for Manitobans to be able to do that,” Merrick said from the other side of the limestone walls of the provincial building.
“I never thought that I would see the day that I would be able to see an Anishinaabe premier in the province of Manitoba.”
A crowd donning red marched from the Canadian Museum for Human Rights Wednesday morning to both recognize the day and hold the new government accountable to Indigenous families across the province.
William Hudson prayed for Kinew’s win, and the victory brings hope to him and the families of other murdered Indigenous women and girls.
Hudson’s daughter Eishia Hudson was shot and killed by a Winnipeg police officer in June 2020, setting off a series of protests and calls for justice.
Hudson anticipates action with the incoming government.
“With previous governments I didn’t feel like change is there, or an option,” he said at the steps of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.
On Wednesday, Ottawa announced $740,000 to further study the feasibility of searching the Prairie Green landfill for the remains of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran, two women believed to have been killed and later taken there.
“We’re in it for the long haul, and we will work with the families, the community impacted as well as the province of Manitoba to get to the right answer on this,” Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Gary Anandasangaree told reporters.
The outgoing governing Tories campaigned against searching the landfill, while incoming Kinew said he would “get it done” but stopped short of fully committing to a search regardless of cost.
Merrick said the issue extends beyond Indigenous people. Hudson said the lives lost in the last few years still matter to the families seeking justice.
“Don’t forget. Don’t forget about loved ones, don’t forget about Eishia.”
— with files from Iris Dyck