Manitoba government launches $15M endowment fund for MMIWG2S families
Families of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit peoples (MMIWG2S) can expect more financial support from the Manitoba government as part of a new endowment fund announced Sunday.
In partnership with The Winnipeg Foundation, the provincial government is investing $15 million into the creation of a MMIWG2S Healing and Empowerment endowment fund that aims to help families who have lost their loved ones access the care they need.
“This endowment fund will also help support organizations that are Indigenous-led and that are working on the frontlines and working with MMIWG2S families,” said Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine.
Fontaine said her goal is to see the fund reach $50 million, which she hopes will include donations from the public, as well as corporate entities and businesses across Canada.
“Anybody that says that they believe in reconciliation, that they’re on the path of reconciliation, action that,” Fontaine said. “Invest in the endowment fund.”
Fontaine also said the fund will be available to families regardless of the minister in charge, or the government in power.
“Back in 2016, when there was a shift in government, all of the work that the previous NDP and myself as special advisor, all of the work that we had been working on just fell by the wayside,” Fontaine said. “We have to put in place an infrastructure, that still no matter what happens politically, the tides change, whatever it may be, that those resources and supports are still there for families.”
The announcement was one of several events scheduled for National Red Dress Day – a day that recognizes and commemorates MMIWG2S, observed annually on May 5.
Dozens of people gathered at Oodena Circle in downtown Winnipeg to participate in commemorative drumming, singing and prayer.
While Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Cathy Merrick welcomed the community support, she called on more action to help bring people’s loved ones home.
“We need justice for our women,” she said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Humboldt Broncos crash victims and families react to decision to deport truck driver
The family of one of the victims of the Humboldt Broncos bus crash in 2018 says they are 'thankful' for a decision by a Calgary immigration board to deport the driver of the truck involved.
A woman took her dog to a shelter to be euthanized. A year later, the dog is up for adoption again
Exhausted and short on options after consulting two veterinary clinics, Kristie Pereira made the gut-wrenching decision last year to take her desperately ill puppy to a Maryland shelter to be euthanized.
Community mourns victims of fatal boat crash near Kingston, Ont.
The three people killed in last weekend's tragic collision between a speedboat and a fishing boat north of Kingston are being remembered Friday.
Dolphin stuck in N.J. creek dies after 'last resort' rescue attempt, officials say
Animal welfare officials say a dolphin stuck in a New Jersey creek for more than a week has died after a rescue attempt they say was attempted as a “last resort.”
'God forgives but we don’t': Loud outburst from stabbing victim’s family during sentencing hearing
An emotional outburst in a London, Ont. courtroom Friday disrupted the sentencing hearing of a woman who pleaded guilty for her part in the death of a 29-year-old Mohammed Abdallah.
NASA launches tiny CubeSat to set its sights on Earth
NASA has launched the first of two research satellites to measure how much heat is lost to space from the Arctic and Antarctica.
How to keep insects out of your house, according to an entomologist and other experts
Now that temperatures have warmed up even more this spring, you may be anxious at the thought of bugs invading your home or you may already be battling the pests. Here are expert tips on how to keep them away.
‘It’s pretty alarming’: Urban Wildlife encounters in Winnipeg this week
When you consider what kind of animals you might encounter in your Winnipeg neighborhood, a bear probably isn’t on your list.
Prescriptions for weight loss, diabetes drugs for young people leaped 600% since 2020, study says
The number of young people in the U.S. who are prescribed GLP-1 agonist drugs like Wegovy and Ozempic for weight loss and diabetes soared 594.4 per cent in just three years, according to new research.