OTTAWA — A few dozen people wearing bright red shirts and dresses stood out against a grey sky on Parliament Hill on Tuesday afternoon, where they gathered for a vigil to mark Red Dress Day in honour of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.
The event was led by Bridget Tolley, founder of Families of Sisters in Spirit.
Her mother, Gladys Tolley, was killed in 2001 when she was hit by a Quebec provincial police police vehicle while crossing a highway in her home community of Kitigan Zibi.
Tolley said she has been coming to Parliament Hill to push for action for 25 years.
“I cried this morning, because I didn’t want to be here. I don’t want to be here, but I have to be. Not only for my mother, but for all our sisters,” she said.
Tolley’s 16-year-old nephew, Kayden, spoke about the great-grandmother he never got to know.
“I carry her strength, her story, and we carry the responsibility to remember,” he said.
He called for those in attendance to “speak, to learn and to stand up for what is right.”
This year marks seven years since the launch of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, and five years since the release of the national action plan and its 231 calls to action.
The inquiry found that Indigenous women are 12 times more likely than non-Indigenous women to go missing or be murdered.
“We fought hard to get an inquiry. We wanted the families’ stories told,” said Melanie Omeniho, president of the national Métis group Les Femmes Michif Otipemisiwak.
“Where are those stories today? They’re gone. It was like they vanished in air, and that was never what was intended.”
The Chiefs of Ontario said this year’s day of awareness and action is marked by “urgent concern” because critical federal funding is set to lapse “with no notice or confirmation of renewal.”
The group said in a press release that the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls is ongoing.
“The decision to let this funding lapse, while this crisis continues, is unacceptable,” said Ontario regional Chief Abram Benedict in a statement.
Advocates including the National Family and Survivors Circle, the Native Women’s Association of Canada, Les Femmes Michif Otipemisiwak and Giganawenimaanaanig held a press conference last month to call for stable, long-term funding from Ottawa.
The groups said piecemeal federal funding agreements were hindering their work to support Indigenous women.
Métis artist Jaime Black inspired the use of red dresses to represent missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls with an exhibit in 2010.
Black displayed more than 100 red dresses around the University of Winnipeg campus to raise awareness of the issue.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 5, 2026.
— With files from Alessia Passafiume
Sarah Ritchie, The Canadian Press
