 test test one two thank you everybody just thank you everybody for joining us here today on the traditional characteristics and people my name is Mike Morris I'm the MLA for Prince George McKenzie and I'm also the ministry responsible for public safety and the solicitor general for BC this very important noon and thank you to the Ligankan people his openings ceremony was very nice before I say anything else I would like to is chief Andy Thomas uh did he arrive okay um I'd like to ask counselor John Rice to say a few words please offer good afternoon and welcome me to the Ligankan territory minister of justice and attorney gms solicitor general Mike Morris fish and leaders today is the day we begin to learn to look through the eyes of others it is also the day we grow businesses or today is a special day and so many ways we feel exceptionally blessed and for extra respect must go to all our friends and generous get me literally is we have come a long way but we have been around part of the Hong Kong and territory for sharing this special occasion as we unveil the way that maybe we all take this opportunity to each other to give strength to each other and share it sisters thank you very much uh also with me today as mentioned that my colleague at the minister of Aboriginal relations and reconciliation and the attorney general and minister of justice won the good deputy chief counsel for get me out uh uh tassidy davis chair of the minister's advisory council on Aboriginal women and Cheryl Casper here of the first nation's summit and representing the first nation's leadership council welcome to all our honored guests but most importantly i'd like to welcome the families the family members to have traveled far and wide to be here with us today uh i know everybody couldn't make it but i'm very grateful for those that have been able to to make this journey you've also for the great loss we can't take away your pain and sorrow that you've endured over these many many years since a lot of your loved ones have disappeared but we can remember them we can be with you and we can remember them for time and memorial all the ones that you've lost as a former police officer i know the trauma and the sorrow that the family members have gone through uh you know i've uh been party to a number of these investigations over the years and i've seen a lot of the tragedies myself and it's something that we need to work collectively together with to overcome we must strive every day to ensure that others don't suffer that same trauma and that same misfortune before i proceed any further i'd like to ask Nathan Rice to offer short prayer good afternoon ladies and gentlemen my name is Nathan Rice i'm from the Songys Nation here in Victoria very thankful and very honored to be here today but more importantly truly thankful for all of you to be here to really help and to give your support to those in need before i begin the prayer i would like to ask you all a favor i was once told that you can pass your feelings on and that people can pick up your emotions so i would really like to ask you all to really think of those in need to really think of those people who need the strength today to open your hearts and to let your feelings out all the kindness all the happiness and help pick up those in need thank you i would like to thank the creator for such a beautiful day and i'd like to thank the creator for bringing us all together in such an important time i want to ask the creator to give strength to those in need to those people who really need an extra hand may the creator watch over you and may the creator give you strength because sometimes we all need a little strength and you need faith blind faith and always to hope for the best no matter what happens everything has a plan as the river of time flows may it wash away the pain of those who are suffering and may the stars light in the darkness of those who are trapped in the darkness because the single star cannot light the night sky it takes a group of many stars to light the world and just by all of you being here today you are enlightened the path of those of the missing women and children of all those suffering in the world you are enlightened in the world today just by being here and i'd like to ask the creator to watch all of you as when you step out of this building may the creator watch your path and may he guide you all because in life there is the main path and there are branches of small trails sometimes we get lost in those trails but the path is always there waiting to be found they say that all the water in the ocean cannot sink the ship unless the water gets inside of that ship so too can the negativity of the world not bring you down unless you allow it inside of you but the main reason we're here is to be together people cannot grow in advance without working together in unity and this is just the first step to being united as all of us and so once again i would like to thank you all because i am truly honored just to be here to help support those family members in need and may all of you be blessed on your path of life thank you thank you nathan i'd like to invite minister john rusted to the podium say if you work thank you my truly is uh an honor to be here today on the traditional territory of the gwonk and people i also want to thank uh uh councilor rites for the welcome i know thank you so much we do so much work uh on the territory here and there was appreciative of of gwonk and people as as partners and Nathan thank you so much for your opening for and to the opening uh singers and drummers thank you for starting us off in such a good way to the speakers that that are here today as well i wanted just to uh to say thank you for for coming this is a very important event it's a very important time and i'm very thankful that you're not you're with us on this journey i want to acknowledge a few other people that are in the audience here as well um particularly uh uh claire uh um sort of claire marin doll call who is uh with the mary t nation uh mary t g with carrier family carers candy family services uh paul assert who is now retired as the executive director of the bc association of aboriginal friendship centers but has done a tremendous amount of work along the all along this trend as well as uh leslie farley who is the new executive director of the friendship centers thank you also for for being here and in attendance today it's uh for for me it's uh it's very very emotional this time working with the family members having an opportunity um to get to know them a little bit and i'm so thankful to see as some some of the members here today and i know there's many others that are connected through the podcast who will be watching this event here today and i can say that no words can equal the sense of the sorrow or loss that you have experienced and continue to experience but words are important we met just a short time ago when in february with over 350 family members at the gathering and i can tell you that many powerful stories were told stories of sorrow and grief of anger and fear and of love and of course from remembrance some of the family members who took some time to share with us at that event and participated in that event have never openly spoken before about their loss and about their grief and it was the start of a healing the start of a journey and it was an important moment i think for us all in british columbia it was a short moment in gathering family members but sometimes of course the emotion is too much to express in words sometimes it feels as if no one is listening but by default sometimes we become silent and when this happens we have to find an alternative voice and today i am deeply honored to officially unveil bc's quilt to remember the lives of missing and murdered women and the girls of course from across in british columbia family members from all parts of the province and a few from across canada crafted patches as memorials to their loved ones over 90 handcrafted patches were made from clothes from blankets and other possessions or patches in their loved ones favorite colors they have messages and images that are powerful reminder to all of us of the lost ones who were left who have gone before us and of those of course who are left behind the beautiful centerpiece in this patch that are in this quilt that you will see was made by two members of our aboriginal youth internship program amber morgan and nicole a night heart and i want to thank them for their work in helping to craft this beautiful piece of art words are indeed important but the quilt speaks for itself it tells its own story and it's a story that resonates across the province and across the country it creates a legacy to ensure that these stories are never forgotten and documents a snapshot of our history after today the quilt will be displayed over the summer in the lower rotunda of our legislative here in british columbia so that visitors can admire the beauty and the heartfelt work that has gone into creating it but more importantly so that as many people as possible can join in the remembrance of the lost we'll be keeping the memories also alive in a memorial commemorative book my hope is that with remembrance comes a degree of understanding understanding of why such terrible things happen to such good people the root causes of violence are many and complex children grow up in difficult circumstances and can be exposed to violence and we need to break that cycle of violence the legacy of residential schools looms large over survivors and has unimaginable effects on families through the generations at the end of this month we'll be holding a children and family gathering in conjunction with the first nation leadership and many frontline workers to examine some of these root causes and how we can try to address them and by working to understand why we can work together to prevent more families from experiencing the pain that many of those who have experienced and have gone through before the quote has been failed i'd like to thank all the ma'am family members who have traveled to be here with us today and all those who are joining us on the podcast around the province we make sure we send out to all the family members and the organizations to let them know about this and i know many many more would like to be able to be here today to travel to witness the unveiling of this and unfortunately it's sometimes difficult just with the travel and expenses but we know that in their hearts and their part of what we've created here today and they'll be part of the journey that we'll be taking moving forward so i want to thank you i want to thank you to all who have poured their emotions into the creation of this beautiful piece of art you have honored your love of ones in a beautiful way and we honor you in return so this time for the unveiling of the quilt i'd like to invite to want a good to come and join me at one of the family members who was traveled here to be here today and one i also had the honor of being here and providing us with an open prayer in the legislature today to help us on an honor path here for this for this journey and unveiling so with that to the one if you would join me thank you very much and i'll turn it back to a beautiful memorial that is that is great but also just like is that we have minister Stephanie can you hear this great event here this afternoon i see a number of our colleagues mla's speaker of the house and other thank you very much for participating in this this event and i'd like to invite one good to the deputy chief uh getting out to say a few words thank you um ladies and gentlemen honored guests ministers i'd like to thank you for this beautiful day and thank you for making this possible for us to gather together as minister russ said um mentioned um we gathered in prince george in february to uh to have an opportunity to discuss um the our families to talk about the memories of our loved ones about our challenges that we've had within this system the challenges that we face on a daily basis in this country as aboriginal women and i'd like to thank minister russ said and minister susan and con for taking that time to listen and to truly listen and to to um to care for us for um so many decades um we we we did our marches we did our our studies we did our our um focus groups but we weren't being heard and this was one of the first times that we felt that we were being heard so thank you very very much to uh the ministers for coming out and doing that um some of the feedback that we got from some family members was that uh uh just their opportunity to speak and be heard open open them and um allow them to begin their journey of healing and so many of the family members have had an opportunity to and have done so much healing work since that day and the the creation of this quilt also allowed them to um to begin healing some people couldn't verbalize what they the pain that they were feeling but we were able to to to um to share it through their art through their their the pieces the momentos of the families um so may this quilt represent um an act as a reminder to all of us not just of uh the pain and the tragedy and the sorrow that the families have experienced but all of the love as well that went into it and how important each and every one of us each and every one of us um and our lives are and when may we go forward and protect our lives and protect our daughters there are so many of us that can go home and hold our daughters at night and hug them and there's so many of other of us that can they're gone and we have no answers to where they've they're they've gone so we'd ask uh I'd like to thank the the young man for such a beautiful prayer and I'd ask that the smog of khagi um guide you on your journeys to uh to home thank you for listening and thank you for coming out and I pray that we find resolution and to all of our cases of the families that have gone missing or have been murdered and we we hope that this um upcoming inquiry helps us to uh uh to find some resolution and also to change the paradigm of this country so that we that first nations women aren't just seen as victims aren't just seen as alcoholics or or trade sex trade workers we are professionals we are educated we are hardworking we come from good families and um and I'm hoping that this country will start to see that so thank you so very much for coming and thank you for hearing me thank you very much for wanting to and now I invite to share our cashmere to say a few words thank you so much for acknowledging the traditional territory of the guanquin people and to thank you counselor rice for your warm welcome and I'd also like to acknowledge the drummers the singers and the dancers and to Nathan for your wonderful words and your warm welcome and to help us get started off in a good way I'd like to also acknowledge minister rastad minister anton and minister kudu minister mourners for being here acknowledge your presence and in particular minister rastad and minister anton for the work that you did to lead us up to february's gathering up in prince george I participated in that gathering as well as much as well as a number of you that are sitting here today and that was the beginning of the start I believe of first nations people families communities and government coming together and starting down that healing healing process and I just acknowledge your work around that minister rastad and to the families here today thank you for being here I thank you for your courage and your commitment to ensure that our sisters are never forgotten and that we continue to fight for justice that we continue to be able to have them rest in peace I'm honored to be here for the unveiling of this beautiful quilt and as I was sitting here and it was unveiled it took my breath away as I'm sure that a number of emotions are running through your minds and through your hearts as well it's a beautiful memorial quilt although this is a provincial event I think that it's worth noting that yesterday ministers bennett and wilson reybold addressed the permanent forum on indigenous issues at the united nations in new york to change canada's status of permanent objector to now be in a full supporter of the united nations declaration and I raise this in particular because article 22.2 of the declaration reads this states shall take measures in conjunction with indigenous peoples to ensure that indigenous women and children enjoy the full protection and guarantees against all forms of violence and discrimination to know now that canada to know now that canada is fully on board in working with indigenous peoples and with the province as full partners to make those articles become a reality to change the lives of our people in our communities and our families and our children the article to me reinforces and recognizes the fact that we are facing a crisis here in british columbia and within this country and in order to address this crisis we need to work together as families for nations communities and leaders and government we must be fully engaged in full partnership with each other to end this senseless violence against our women today is bitter sweet and that number one this beautiful quilt is representative of the women and girls who are either murdered or are still missing from here in british columbia one of the things that i noticed right away is that there are way too many squares representing too many of our families affected by this national tragedy secondly some of the women some of the mothers and grandmothers and aunties and sisters and other members of the family who contributed to the making of this quilt are not able to be here with us for today's unveiling with that in mind we must commit to ensuring that we have full inclusion and full engagement of all the families affected in all aspects of addressing murdered and missing women and girls in this province and in this country in all i believe that when general society sees this quilt it will put into perspective for them the magnitude of this strategy tragedy to know that every square represents the life of a woman or girl and that this beautiful piece of work will be a lasting legacy for our sisters and that we will never ever forget them and it will only be through a true partnership of full inclusion and respect that we will one day end violence against our women girls our sisters our mothers and our grandmothers and i'm committed to working with each and every one of you with the province and the federal government with families to ensure that we reach that day sooner rather than later thank you thank you very much to the Cheryl and i would like to invite Chastity Davis to the podium good morning good afternoon my name is chastity davis and i'm a proud member of the sly emanation which is located just off the Sunshine coast in beautiful british columbia i'd like to acknowledge the traditional territory of the glabongan people and thank the counselor for the welcome and nathan for the beautiful words and the drum group for welcoming us here and in a good way and holding this space for us to hold our work here today i'm the chair of the minister's advisory council on Aboriginal women and uh also known as macaw macaw was established in 2011 to provide advice to the government on how to improve the quality of life for Aboriginal women across British Columbia one of our most significant initiatives that macaw started was to encourage the provincial government to sign an MOU with the first nation leadership council and the main teen nation of vc to commit to ending violence against Aboriginal women and girls across this province and that um needs to happen now and soon when i talk about the missing and murdered indigenous women and girls um i remind people that this is a current event this isn't something that happened a long time ago this is still happening to our women and girls every single day there are facing violence within their communities at all forms of violence domestic sexual physical emotional spiritual and mental and those are systematic issues that our women are still living with and surviving with surviving through today and the work that we're doing with macaw in partnership with the province um is to address those issues at the systemic level at the root level and to have those conversations um and with the province and and to help guide their work their policies their programs and where they're putting their funding to address this um and uh the MOU uh that was signed between the province and the first nation leadership council and the main teen nation of vc um was the first step and out of that MOU the family gathering happened in February um and at the family gathering this quilt was made and there is a 90 patches on this quilt which you've already heard um people saying that that represents one family member um and so there's 90 lives that are um represented on this quilt and there's many more that that aren't on the quilt but that that their memory lives in our hearts and our souls and our minds as we walk forward to address this issue um I uh really believe that as indigenous people we know how to heal ourselves we've been healing ourselves for thousands of years prior to contact and um and sometimes we need to have a safe space to be able to feel empowered to heal ourselves and um and so I'm grateful that um the family gathering and this quilt is a symbol of how we're going to move forward to gather um the government the first nation leaders the family members um the advocates that have been the long time voice and been carrying this torch for over 30 years and are finally now we have the national land crew we have the years of our of our provincial government here I really want to acknowledge the work of of the advocates in the downtown east side and the highway of tears and the friendship centers that have been holding this torch for a number of years so that we are able to bring voice and awareness to the issues of our of the violence that our women are facing today and have been for decades the provincial family gathering honored lost loved ones and was like I said the first important step toward reconciliation and this quilt is a visible legacy of the event um too often our indigenous women and girls are invisible in all levels of society um and but this quilt honors and acknowledges them their stories and their spirits the quilt is a tribute to the indigenous women and girls who left their loved ones way too soon to me it is heartbreaking that there are um thousands of women across this nation that have gone missing or been murdered the vision of macaw is a world where all all Aboriginal peoples live free of violence and are healthy sustainable and self determining in this world there is no more need for any patches or any memorials we must all continue to work together to end violence against indigenous women and girls thank you very much my pleasure to invite Susan and taunton thank you very much sure to be here today on the traditional territory is a little bit long and first nation thank you to the dancers especially to the little fella he's gone maybe he'll come back again uh what a moving tribute this quilt is a tribute to the stories that we heard from the first day from the gathering from the families in Prince George and then for the families who traveled with success to Winnipeg and again told their stories to myself to minister Rustad and indeed to a very large room full of people from around the country they were moving stories they were incredible stories and um it really spoke to me and my colleagues about the work that needs to be done to bring both reconciliation and healing but I think this quilt speaks as much as those words it is so moving to see the names of the families on this quilt and to think of the stories that lie behind them ensuring that the safety of indigenous women and girls is one of the defining issues of our time and I am extremely honored to be here today at the unveiling of this quilt and I thank those who were inspired to to put the quilt together in Prince George that was that was a wonderful inspiration and what a piece of art and a story is in this quilt and it is a reminder that we we need to work together to address violence and violence prevention part of my job as an attorney general is it and in my mandate is to work with the federal government on a national inquiry to see how we can stop this violence how we can help make our most vulnerable community members safe and secure and so we that's what we have been meeting with and listening to indigenous women and girls and taking actions that are based on what we have heard we of course did have an inquiry in British Columbia relating to the tragedy of the missing and murdered women on the east side many of whom were Aboriginal women and we were able to take the lessons that we heard from that and the work that we have done from that to to inform the building of the national inquiry in British Columbia we've made substantial changes in policing and by free policing and support for vulnerable women and in response to missing persons there were terrible cases in the past of police forces and they regret this I know but taking reports of missing women and not knowing where else to go and then putting the file away that will not happen anymore in British Columbia because we have a missing person unit and we have police trained and missing persons in response so the British Columbia today missing means you will be stopped and we will not be able we will not have that anymore in British Columbia government at all levels has an essential role to play in the struggle against violence root causes our government our provincial government and Premier Kristy Clark and my colleagues here is committed to continue to listen and to take action based on what we have heard we will remember the loved ones who have been lost we will think about the family members who are left behind it's my hope that the creation of this quote will help in some way on the path towards healing it's my hope that the national inquiry and I think all of you who have helped me and my colleagues in informing that national inquiry it's hope that this national inquiry will help with with recognizing the harm that has done to families in Canada and to find a way forward to help families and indeed to help all of us in this country so with that and a group that I had the privilege of seeing Prince George and again who I spoke to in Winnipeg the wonderful group the founder Laura Ly Williams who uh accompanied us to Winnipeg this year to the national round table I'm missing and murdered women and girls their story telling through death is a powerful statement we are delighted to welcome them today so may I introduce to you butterflies in spirit efforts to force the public inquiry have stalled either way an inquiry might not answer why as many as one thousand indigenous women there's a crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women in this country that has become a national tragedy the scale of the crisis has been clear for years hundreds of indigenous women murdered or missing in camp haunting national disgrace where there is no solution inside where it is to go where it is to go where it should have been come when it was yeah I just wanted to say we're a dance group of family members of missing and murdered women and I started this dance group to get my missing and picture out of there for Linda Williams she's she's missing and my cousin Chania Holick was murdered by Robert we have our other members here Julie Beans Julie being Billie Jean her name is Georgina Pappen who was also murdered on the farm Miranda Johnson who whose cousin is Angelina Pete who has been missing since May 2011 Lillian Howard whose family members are Christina Helena Howard on the highway here on the island Garrett Dan who represents the missing and murdered women he has Luke Deggernes on his teacher who who's missing he went missing when he was 14 years old yeah we're butterflies in spirit thank you butterflies in spirit uh the interpretation of that was uh very mature touch