The Province

WOMEN’S MEMORIAL MARCH

‘AN EMOTIONAL DAY’ FOR FIRST NATIONS MLA

- DAN FUMANO THE PROVINCE dfumano@theprovinc­e twitter.com/fumano

To Melanie Mark, the rain that soaked hundreds of solemn marchers Sunday through the Downtown Eastside seemed appropriat­e.

“The rain is a symbol of cleansing,” said Mark, who this month became the first First Nations woman elected to the B.C. legislatur­e. “And it’s important that we’re reconcilin­g the justice that needs to happen for these women.

“There’s a crisis. It’s not something of the past, women are still facing violence today,” said Mark, herself a victim of violence and abuse as a child growing up in East Vancouver. “This is an emotional day for me ... It’s important that I come here with my daughters and my mom.”

Sunday marked the 26th year of the Feb. 14 Women’s Memorial March, held every Valentine’s Day to honour the memory of the women of the DTES who have been victims of violence. But it was the first time the event took place against the backdrop of a national inquiry into the issue of murdered and missing aboriginal women and girls, a commitment of the federal Liberal government.

One of the cabinet ministers overseeing the inquiry is Canada’s new minister of justice and attorney general, Jody Wilson-Raybould, the first aboriginal woman to hold the federal justice portfolio. She has participat­ed in the Valentine’s march several times before, but Sunday marked her first time marching as justice minister.

“I see my role in this position as seeking justice. And somebody once told me that in order to achieve justice, you have to understand and feel injustice,” she said. “I just want to recognize the resilience of all the advocates across the country that have brought us to this place. This is really special. This, in spite of the rain, is an important day as we move forward and we stop this national tragedy.”

About 1,000 supporters, some carrying pink paper hearts bearing the names of victims of violence, marched. Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson held a heart bearing the name of Stephanie Lane, who was 20 when she went missing in 1997. Lane’s remains were found on Robert Pickton’s Port Coquitlam pig farm six years later, and she is believed to be the youngest of Pickton’s victims.

“Activists have fought long and hard to get the inquiry, and now there is a sense that justice is coming, and these women and girls have not been forgotten,” said Robertson.

Mary Mootrey, a 58-year-old Downtown Eastside resident, marched Sunday in memory of Sereena Abotsway. Mootrey volunteere­d at a DTES shelter in the early 1990s, where she met Abotsway as a teen.

Abotsway was a sweet, pretty girl, Mootrey remembered, who “looked like a movie star,” and was nicknamed “Mouse.”

Abotsway was 29 when her foster mom reported her missing in 2001. Six years later, Pickton was convicted of her murder.

“She had a big heart,” Mootrey said. “Sereena never missed the march on Valentine’s Day. Until she went missing. That’s why I’m here, in memory of her and a lot of other ladies. Because they shouldn’t have gone that way.”

 ?? RIC ERNST/PNG ?? The 26th annual Women’s Memorial March makes its way down Main Street on Sunday.
RIC ERNST/PNG The 26th annual Women’s Memorial March makes its way down Main Street on Sunday.

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