Heather Conlin, CFUW Southport, addressed the crowd at the 2017 vigil in Coulter Parkette.
It has been 10 years since Maisy Odjick, a former resident of the Saugeen First Nation community, disappeared. She is one of the almost 1,200 Indigenous women reported missing and or murdered in Canada since 1980 according to a recent MMIWG (Murder and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls) Inquiry.
On Thursday, December 6 the Canadian Federation of University Women (CFUW) Southport will be holding their annual vigil to remember Maisy and as part of the National Day of Action in memory of 14 women who were killed on December 6, 1989 in Montreal's École Polytechnique and other female victims of violence.
"She was a free spirit," said Maisy's mother, Laurie Odjick, of her daughter. "She brought life into our family. We all just miss her."
"My hope is always she is out there somewhere. But my insides tell me something horribly went wrong."
Originally from Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg reserve near Maniwaki, Quebec, Maisy and her family moved to Saugeen in 2004 for three years where she attended GC Huston Public School.
On September 6, 2008, Maisy and her friend, Shannon Alexander, 17, were planning to attend a dance and later spend the night at Shannon's house. The next day, all of their belongings were found at Shannon's house. The girls were never seen again. Maisy would have been 27 this year.
Violence against women continues to be a prevalent problem. Since 1990, about 750 women in Ontario have been killed by a former or current male partner or a man closely known to them, according to the Ontario Association of Interval and Transition Homes. That's an average of 25 a year, or two every month. CFUW is committed to finding solutions to gender-based violence.
Family members of Maisy are slated to address the vigil which starts at 12 noon on December 6 at Coulter Parkette, at the corner of Green and Goderich Street in downtown Port Elgin. Everyone is welcome.
