Mother marks tragedy with walk to Prince George

The Daily News provided full coverage of Audrey Auger's plans to walk from Prince Rupert to Prince George, her way to spread the message of marking the tragic death of her daughter on the Highway of Tears.

Auger planned to set off from prince Rupert on Sunday, accompanied by a number of young people who will assist her in the task of informing and involving people on the tragic events that have plagued that highway.


MOTHER OF TRAGIC TEEN TO SET OFF ON PAINFUL JOURNEY
By Kris Schumacher
The Daily News
Friday, June 29, 2007
Pages One and Two

Audrey Auger is one of too many parents in Northern British Columbia who knows the grief of losing a child to the Highway of Tears. And it’s because of that grief that she is taking steps to ensure no other parents have to experience the tragedy she has been through.

In memory of Aielah Saric-Auger and all the other young women who have disappeared along that stretch of road, Auger and several of her daughter’s friends will be walking from Prince Rupert to Prince George beginning July 1. Their goal is not only to honour their memory, but to bring awareness to all local and national communities about the tragic loss of life that has plagued this highway for the last two decades.

“That’s where the awareness walk comes in, dealing with the loss of my daughter and supporting the other mothers who have lost their babies along the highway,” said Auger. “And as a reminder to young people that it’s not safe out here.”

Auger lost her daughter Aielah Saric-Auger last February to one of the many senseless acts of violence that have occurred along Highway 16. Since then, she’s had to overcome many demons to get to a place where she can begin to cope with the absence of Aielah from her family’s life.
“I’m awake now,” said Auger. “I fell asleep for 15 months of my life. In the past, I did not want to live, I was suicidal for the ffelt like a failn attempt to avoid tragedy was the reason why the Auger family decided to relocate to British Columbia from their original home in Alberta.
“The reason why I moved my family up here to Prince George was to get away from pedophiles, because we had a bad experience in Edmonton regarding my late daughter,” said Auger. “We came here to start a new life, and unfortunately it didn’t last that long.”

Since 1988, an estimated 34 women have gone missing or been killed along the 724 km road. They remain unsolved and many, say some family members, largely univestigated.

First Nations communities have been advocating for a full investigation by the RCMP for some time and an investigation into nine missing women cases was launched last year.

It’s been requested and recommended by a recent symposium on the problem that the province provide a ‘shuttle bus’ service for women who cannot afford a Greyhound ticket, and that there are increased RCMP patrols along the route to dissuade predators from preying on young women, among many other things.

“I attended the recent symposium in Prince George along with three of my colleagues, and we feel it’s a high priority that has been neglected for too long,” said North Coast MLA Gary Coons. “The recommendations in my mind are Band-Aid solutions. We need to ensure federal and provincial governments look at poverty and the adverse conditions in some of the communities. It has to be recognized, and can’t be swept under the carpet.”

Auger and the group of teenagers and young adults will be arriving in Prince Rupert on Friday, and will begin their Healing Walk on Canada Day morning. Auger is asking for donations from the community to aid her group in the walk, which will take several weeks to complete and which will require a long list of supplies.

Donations should be sent to Carrier Sekani Family Services. To find out what the public can do to aid this effort, or for more information, call Lisa Krebbs at 250-614-3168 or Sheldon Bjorklund at 250-562-6555.