Work continues on alert system for missing Indigenous women: minister

By The Canadian Press on October 4, 2024.

Family and supporters paint a red dress as they gather to protest a lack of action by all levels of governments in funding a search of Winnipeg's landfills for missing Indigenous women, at Portage and Main in Winnipeg, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods

WINNIPEG – The federal government says it’s making progress on a pilot program for an alert system that would inform the public when an Indigenous woman or girl is missing.

The federal and Manitoba governments have been working on a Red Dress Alert system.

It would be similar to Amber Alerts, which are used when a child is abducted, and the aim is to eventually make it countrywide.

Gary Anandasangaree, the federal minister for Crown-Indigenous Relations, says a Manitoba Indigenous group has been selected to lead the pilot, which was first announced in May.

Statistics Canada said in a report last year that the homicide rate for Indigenous women and girls was six times higher than the rate for their non-Indigenous counterparts.

The federal budget set aside $1.3 million to develop and implement the alert system.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 4, 2024.