SASKATOON Two years after the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) wrapped up, Saskatoon’s city administration is recommending the establishment of an independent office of Indigenous matriarchs or “aunties” to help support Indigenous women and girls. The recommendation stems from work undertaken by city administration, examining the final report of MMIWG and responding to Calls to Action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). In November 2020, the city created a Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and Two Spirit (MMIWG2S) advisory group made up of an elder and many local organizations including OUTSaskatoon, Saskatoon Public Schools, Saskatoon Tribal Council, Saskatoon Police Service and Saskatchewan RCMP.
Posted: May 09, 2021 3:00 AM CT | Last Updated: May 9
The participant said art has become a way for her to express her emotions and deal with them. It s been helpful because it s not her style to talk through emotions. (Kendall Latimer/CBC)
Alice sketched out three versions of a rose with pencil and charcoal to show the metamorphosis of a wilted flower into a flourishing one.
The piece is symbolic of her own evolution, which unfolded during her time living at a Saskatoon safe house for women during the last year. When I first got there, I was this dead wilted rose, but as the time went on I started growing.
SASKATOON A front-line worker in Saskatoon who helps women exiting the sex trade says she hopes the province’s proposed human trafficking legislation will encourage more people to come forward. “It is scary when you have gone through what they have gone through and lived through what they have lived through and you’ve experienced and seen the horrific things that they have,” said Joeline Magill, executive director of Hope Restored Canada. That’s why she said it’s important for the Saskatchewan government to also connect victims and survivors of human trafficking to supports in the community. “The greater concern for us is really back to the person themselves and how are they being supported, not only through the legal system but also outside of that with the wraparound services that will be necessary as they walk through that process,” Magill said.