WINNIPEG – It wasn’t just those close to Tina Fontaine who were affected by her death as the slaying made headlines across the country.
A musician from British Columbia felt compelled to write a song in the young runaway’s honour.
The body of Tina Fontaine, 15, was pulled from the Red River on Aug. 17 after she was reported missing on Aug. 8.
READ MORE: Missing teen murdered, dumped in river: police
Nearly a week after her body was found, Johnny Maudlin posted a music video dedicated to her family and friends on YouTube. His song is called Tina’s Walking (In a World of Hurt).
“I won’t lie or pretend to be activist around First Nation’s issues or even women’s issues. I think we need to take responsibility in a very personal way. That kid never had a chance,” Maudlin wrote on his Facebook page.
Fontaine’s death renewed a call for an inquiry into the hundreds of missing and murdered aboriginal women across the country.
However, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has dismissed the notion.
“I think we should not view this as a sociological phenomenon,” he said.
READ MORE: Harper on wrong side of history in opposing aboriginal inquiry: Trudeau
Fontaine’s death is not the first national news story to spark an original song from Maudlin, a 61-year-old from Burnaby, B.C.
He recently wrote a song about the train disaster in Lac Megantic called This Little Cafe. It has roughly 2,000 views on YouTube.
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