Vigil at Timmins Native Friendship Centre honours missing and murdered women
A 'Sisters in Spirit Vigil' was held at the Timmins Native Friendship Centre on Tuesday to honour the lives of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, two spirit and gender-diverse people.
A sacred fire and healing circle gave people a chance to come together to heal.
"My sister's been missing for the last three days," said Karen Moore of Timmins.
When Moore learned the vigil was happening, she said it was where she needed to be to share that she doesn't know how to find her sister.
She said she might be somewhere in Toronto and hopes to find her.
Officials with the Friendship Centre said it must be acknowledged that 'trap' houses exist in Timmins, where some women are drugged and sexually abused.
“This isn’t (just) something that’s happened, this is something that’s happening and it just looks a lot different and for people, this is very real," said Jaylin Renaud, a healing and wellness coordinator at the Timmins Native Friendship Centre.
In contrast to trap houses, Samantha St. Pierre said she operates a sober living house she calls 'Sam's Place' on Balsam Street in Timmins and she plans to open up two more: one on Fifth Avenue and one in South Porcupine.
"We get the people that nobody wants to rent to and we help them," said St. Pierre.
"Anybody that’s serious about getting clean and sober. Majority of our people right now are Indigenous. I’m Indigenous myself and we welcome anybody."
It's those kinds of community-based solutions that the Timmins Native Friendship Centre wants to hear about. Officials said meaningful change won't happen unless everyone works together.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.