Al Ducharme shared a message on behalf of the twelve chiefs of the PAGC. (Logan Lehmann/paNOW Staff)

By Logan Lehmann

Red Dress Day

P.A. comes together to mark Red Dress Day

May 5, 2024 | 5:29 PM

Hundreds of people wearing red gathered at the Sisters In Spirit monument on the riverbank in downtown on Sunday to remember and honour the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls not just in Saskatchewan, but across Canada.

The solemn ceremony began with opening prayers and was followed by some words from members of the Prince Albert Grand Council (PAGC), RCMP, Prince Albert Police Service (PAPS), and MLA Alana Ross, as well as from those who have a family member who is missing or was murdered.

MLA Alana Ross speaks at the ceremony. (Logan Lehmann/paNOW Staff)

PAPS’ Deputy Chief of Police Farica Prince was one of the speakers at the ceremony and shared some thoughts on the day, highlighting how dangerous it is to be an indigenous woman in Canada.

“Indigenous women are 12 times more likely to go missing or be murdered than anyone else in this country,” she said. “The most difficult and most dangerous life to live in this country right now is an Indigenous woman, and that’s not okay. It’s time for us to hold each other accountable and stop hurting each other.”

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Another speaker at the ceremony was the mother of Drew Ballantyne, Loretta, who has been missing since July 1, 2022.

She was joined by Drew’s son and her grandson, Daniel, at the podium where she shared the struggles and pain of her son being missing and highlighted some important questions about the ongoing crisis, adding it’s not just Indigenous women, but men too.

Drew Ballantyne’s son, Daniel, sits with a homemade missing person sign of his dad. Loretta said that Daniel has been the victim of bullying at school ever since his dad went missing. (Logan Lehmann/paNOW Staff)

“We have to ask ourselves, why does this keep happening? What changes need to happen?” she said. “We see a lot of homeless people out there, we see a lot of addicts out there, we see a lot of gang members out there – there needs to be a way to get them out of that.”

“There needs to be a stop – we need to put a stop to it,” she continued. “You need to look at the justice system, what’s happening in the jails… a lot of the men who go to jail have no choice but to join a gang to survive. Think about those things, think about the hard reality – I am a parent, a mother of a son who went missing because of a gang. That gang, Terror Squad took my son.”

The mother of Drew Ballantyne, Loretta, holds up a missing person poster of her son. (Logan Lehmann/paNOW Staff)

Another speaker was Wendy Mirasty, the cousin of Danielle Dobersheck who was brutally murdered by her ex-boyfriend earlier this year.

Visably emotional, she described the pain she and the family have been dealing with since Danielle was taken from them.

“Our family is still very much grieving, and I don’t think that the grief will ever go away,” she said.

Wendy Mirasty was visibly emotional when talking about the death of her cousin, Danielle Dobersheck, who was murdered on March 10. (Logan Lehmann/paNOW Staff)

The ceremony ended with everyone in attendance participating in a round dance.

Red Dress Day was first commemorated in 2010, to pay respect to the victims, and call on all levels of government to take action to address the racialized and gendered violence inflicted on Indigenous peoples.

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loganc.lehmann@pattisonmedia.com