[IPSM] (Ott) Feb. 14 Day of Justice: Rally for Sisters in Spirit

[mattm-b at resist.ca]

Day of Justice: Rally for Sisters in Spirit

Monday, Feb. 14
Parliament Hill
Noon

Come out and show support for the survival of the Native Women's
Association of Canada's (NWAC) unprecedented Sisters in Spirit campaign
(SIS), which, since it's inception in 2004, has worked to raise awareness
about violence against Native women and girls in Canada--namely, those who
have gone missing or been murdered.

SIS not only compiled a data for over 583 cases of missing and murdered
Native women in five years time, but a...lso identified key patterns
integral to understanding the systemic nature of the violence: media
neglect or racial bias, police racism or negligence, victimization of
Native women by the Justice system, and governmental apathy and
enforcement of cycles of poverty for Native communities, to name a few. In
a relatively short period of time, SIS also managed to raise the profile
of the issue in the media and in the minds of the population at large,
while providing indispensable support to the families of victims and
creating a cross-country network.

This October 86 communities organized the 5th annual memorial Sisters in
Spirit March and Vigil, including one in Nicaragua.

In spite of this progress, and the ongoing collection of new data (indeed,
grassroots groups have put the number of missing and murdered women much
closer to 2000), the government has held SIS in funding limbo for the past
8 months, ever since the release of Canada's 2010 budget back in March,
when $10 million was promised to "address the issue of missing and
murdered Native women." It wasn't until November 2010 that the government
finally made the announcement that confirmed the worst fears of many
activists, organizers, and even opposition MPs: the money would not go to
fund SIS research, but would instead fulfill the government's new idea of
safety for women, and include requirements for enhanced police power:
amendments to the Criminal Code to allow police to wiretap without
warrants in emergencies and obtain multiple warrants on a single
application. This will not only increase the likelihood of criminalization
of women, Native communities, and other vulnerable sectors of the
population, but will be expected to operate without the backbone of
research and data collection. Add to this the historical and ongoing
relationship of distrust between many Native communities and police, who
are themselves implicated in a number of documented violent altercations
with Native women. Gladys Tolley, for instance, was killed by the Surete
du Quebec in 2001 and no one was ever brought to justice. Her daughter
Bridget Tolley has pushed for an independent investigation for years and
was recently refused.

ENOUGH is ENOUGH!! We will not stand for the continued stripping down of
First Nations programs essential to the physical safety and mental and
emotional health of Native women and Native communities, as we have seen
earlier this same year with the Aboriginal Healing Foundation and First
Nations University.

RALLY FOR JUSTICE on February 14th. SHOW YOUR LOVE!