A Manitoba-based initiative aimed at notifying the public when an Indigenous woman, girl, or two-spirit person goes missing is now moving to its second phase — implementation.
The Red Dress Alert — which has been described as similar to the Amber Alert program but with a more culturally appropriate system — is the subject of a 40-page report released Tuesday, calling for its Indigenous-led launch by next summer at the latest.
If approved by the province, the proposed framework includes a 24/7 call centre for families, friends and communities to report missing people. The accuracy of that information would then be assessed and shared with law enforcement, and a public alert would be issued through cellphones and in other forms of media.
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The report says it’s extremely urgent that the plan gets implemented and calls on all three levels of government to get involved.
“Our communities have told us that we need the Red Dress Alert by yesterday,” says Sandra DeLaronde, who was part of the Red Dress Alert team. “We’re hoping that the government will move in a timely way to implement the Red Dress Alert.”
“Our first step is that we’re going to meet with Giganaweni team, and we’ll have those discussions on what they’ve heard,” says Nahanni Fontaine, Manitoba families minister. “What they’d like to see and how they think the community would like to move forward.”
This type of alert system is something that could have helped the family of one missing woman.
“She called different districts and they kept hanging the phone, saying, ‘She’s not our problem,’” says Marilyn Courchene, Leah Keeper’s aunt, who was reported missing in 2023.
If the project, based on 16 months of groundwork, consultations, and community engagement is successful, it could be implemented on the national level.
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