MONTREAL -- The lives of Indigenous women, girls, transgendered and two-spirit people who have gone missing or were killed were honoured in an online vigil on Sunday evening.
Organizers said that despite a national inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Quebec's Viens Commission, Indigenous people still face discrimination.
Organizer Jessica Quijano said the issue is compounded by a lack of will from political leaders and a media that focuses too much on the problems facing Indigenous people. Still, she said the event's purpose is to focus on healing.
“Society, once they know more about the situation, they want to resolve it. I don't think anyone wants to hear about sisters and daughters being murdered. I think it's important for the families. There's a lot of cases that are not resolved. I work with families and when there's no justice, it's very difficult to heal.”
Anti-Indigenous racism became a heated topic in Quebec last year, when video taken by a woman named Joyce Echaquan of staff in a St-Jerome hospital berating her while she lay dying went viral. Since then, Premier Francois Legault has acknowledged that racism exists in Quebec, but has repeatedly said that systemic racism is not an issue in the province.
