A display of red dresses around the community is one of the ways New Westminster is commemorating Red Dress Day.
May 5 is Red Dress Day, a day that honours the memory and lives of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people across Canada and the United States. As part of this year’s campaign, the City of New Westminster will be creating a display of red dresses in the community.
Anyone wishing to donate an adult-sized red dress (no logos) can drop them off until Thursday, April 27 at the front desk of Anvil Centre, Centennial Community Centre, Century House, New Westminster City Hall, the #1 fire hall at Sixth and McBride, the police station, the main branch of the New Westminster Public Library, Queensborough Community Centre and Queen’s Park Arena.
New Westminster City Hall will also be lit up in red in hour of Red Dress Day on May 5.
Mayor Patrick Johnstone has proclaimed May 5 as Red Dress Day in New Westminster.
“Métis artist Jaime Black helped inspire the red dress movement where red dresses are hung from windows and trees as a representation of the pain and loss felt by loved ones and survivors,” said the proclamation. “Indigenous women and girls are five times more likely to experience violence than any other population in Canada. This is a national crisis that requires urgent, informed and collaborative action.”
The proclamation said the Red Dress Campaign is being organized jointly by the Spirit of the Children Society and the City of New Westminster. It stated that non-Indigenous people have a role to play in the fight for justice for missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and gender diverse people in this country.
Coun. Nadine Nakagawa said some people may think the issue has gone away since the federal government did a national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.
“It very clearly hasn’t,” she said. “There’s nonstop news reports across Canada, including our larger Metro Vancouver community, about Indigenous women and girls and two-spirit folks going missing and being murdered.”
Launched in September 2016, the national inquiry published its final report in June 2019.
“There are actions for all levels of government, including us, to take from that report,” Nakagawa said. “That report was created with literally, quite literally, blood and tears. And I just really want to emphasize that.”
In 2019, New Westminster city council approved a series of actions in response to Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. The report contains 231 calls to justice.
“This is an important day for the community to reflect on the rights of Indigenous women and girls whose lives are just at so much more risk than myself as a non-Indigenous person,” Nakagawa said. “So, again, if you haven’t read the murdered and missing Indigenous women report from 2019, it’s still there, it’s still available; the calls are still relevant, and I encourage us all to take a look at the calls for justice and commit to moving them forward.”
The proclamation noted the City of New Westminster has declared A Year of Truth, and encourages New West residents to join the city on its reconciliation journey.
