Utoo Radio and Other News Sources - May 2, 2024 - Canada and Manitoba are partnering to launch an alert system to inform the public when an Indigenous woman or girl goes missing.

The Red Dress Alert system aims to prevent deaths and increase safe reunions with loved ones.

Statistics Canada found that the homicide rate for Indigenous women and girls was six times higher than non-Indigenous counterparts, and are 12 times more likely to go missing or murdered.

The Manitoba pilot project is designed with, and led by, Indigenous Peoples and is expected to help inform an eventual national alert system. Funded through funds set aside in this year's federal and provincial budgets, the system will be funded through money set aside in this year's federal and provincial budgets.

Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Gary Anandasangaree said Winnipeg is the epicentre of the crisis, and launching the Red Dress Alert there will bring forward solutions that can be implemented across the country.

The House of Commons committee studying the prospect for a national alert system has heard testimony from experts who stress any system should be Indigenous-led to mitigate problems of police inaction and bureaucratic red tape.

Sheila North, former grand chief of Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak and ex-journalist, has been a vocal advocate in ending violence against Indigenous women. She hopes that expectations are kept reasonable, as the starting point that matters is the starting point.

Jennifer Jesty, resiliency manager for the Union of Nova Scotia Mi'kmaq, has sent out 183 alerts since September 2020 and reunited 67 people with their families.