Sunday, May 31, 2009

A walk for justice begins at a most symbolic place


Aboriginal human-rights activist Gladys Radek and more than three dozen other supporters of missing women began the long journey to Prince Rupert on Thursday, starting a "March for Justice" that will take them through the interior of British Columbia and on to Prince Rupert, all in a bid to continue to maintain interest in the missing women of the Highway of Tears.

Ms. Radek and her fellow marchers begin their journey from the site of one of British Columbia's most horrific murder scenes, as they left the Downtown Eastside Women's Centre destined for the infamous Pickton farm, the site of a number of murders, with the Vancouver pig farmer has been charged with killing 20 women and convicted in the deaths of a further six.

The choice of the Pickton farm to start the march indicates the concern that the marchers have for the missing women of the Highway of Tears, not wanting to let their names disappear into history.

While the investigation into those disappearances has continued, there has been little progress announced publicly into the various case files currently being followed.

Ms. Radek has a close family interest in the missing women of the Highway of Tears, her niece Tamara Lynn Chipman, went missing from the outskirts of Prince Rupert back in 2005. Last year she led a march over 4000 kilometres to Ottawa in order to press for a public inquiry into the string of disappearances that have plagued the Northern corridor over the last two decades.

Her group is currently trying to raise the funds to continue the march on to Rupert, hopeful to find support from communities throughout British Columbia. Their goal is to reach Prince Rupert on June 22nd.

The opening moments of the march and the plans for it to come were detailed in the Georgia Strait. The progress of the march can be followed from a site set up on Facebook.

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