Candles, photos, hearts and red dresses pay tribute to MMIWG2s+ at Manitoba legislative building
The grand staircase in the Manitoba legislative building was lined with red dresses on Friday, highlighting a path that led to a table with candles. hearts and framed photos of women and girls who have gone missing or been murdered.
“We come together today to honour the lives of mothers and sisters and daughters and aunties and friends that we’ve lost to the ongoing crisis of MMIWG2S,” said Manitoba Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine.
“We remember them. We mourn them. We recommit ourselves to taking meaningful action to end this violence.”
Friday marks the annual Women’s Memorial March commemorating the lives lost.
The first march was held in Vancouver in 1992 to honour the memory of all women and gender-diverse people who died in the city’s Downtown Eastside. It is now held every Feb.14 in more than 20 cities across Canada and the United States for all MMIWG2S+ individuals.
This year’s Winnipeg march will begin at 5 p.m. at the Winnipeg Art Gallery on Memorial Boulevard. It is scheduled to head toward St. Mary. Avenue, where it will go west to Balmoral Street, then north ot Portage before returning to Memorial and the WAG.
“Manitoba has long been referred to as ground zero for MMIWG2S, a painful reality we must acknowledge,” Fontaine said.
However, just as powerful is the fact Manitoba is a leader in community-driven responses to the crisis, Fontaine said.
Organizations and governments across Canada “look to us as a beacon in respect of addressing and ensuring that we’re honouring the lives of MMIWG2S and the families,” she said.
One of those ways is providing financial support to MMIWG2S+ families searching for a loved one, Fontaine said, citing the Manitoba government’s MMIWG2S+ Healing and Empowerment Endowment Fund, which was launched last year with $15 million and managed by The Winnipeg Foundation.
Families can apply for some funding to help to pay for hotels, gas, missing persons posters or to hold a traditional ceremony.
Shoppers Drug Mart announced Friday that its charitable arm — Shoppers Foundation for Women’s Health — is donating $10 million to the fund, the single largest contribution the company’s foundation has ever made.
The money will be provided to The Winnipeg Foundation over a five-year period, with an initial amount of $6 million this year.
Fontaine called the donation a “profound and meaningful act of solidarity.”
“This donation is not just about money. It’s about transformation,” she said. “It will provide survivors and families with access to healing programs, cultural and ceremonial opportunities, and long-term support.
“It will help Indigenous women and their families reclaim their futures, achieve their dreams and live with dignity and strength. That’s what true reconciliation looks like — it’s not just words, it’s action.
“It’s standing with Indigenous communities in a meaningful and enduring way.”
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