March in Winnipeg aims to connect families of homicide victims

A march held in Winnipeg on Sunday aimed to raise awareness of the lasting trauma that families of homicide victims face and connect those loved ones with each other.

Karen Wiebe, executive director of the Manitoba Organization for Victim Assistance, said both those aspects are front of mind for the group, which organized the march.

"Homicide is something that doesn't go away in a year or five years. It has lifelong consequences for families," Wiebe said.

"It's important for the victims, that they have a voice and that they are able to tell their stories."

The march started at The Forks and travelled to the legislative building, then names of deceased loved ones were placed in a nearby flower garden.

Janine Gosselin, whose grandmother Elizabeth Lafantaisie was murdered in 2011, said the group has been helpful in her healing process.

"It's nice to be together, because sometimes … our friends and family don't know how to support us," she said.

"Here, we have the support. Even though we don't know each other, we know what we've been through."

Hilda Anderson-Pyrz, chair of the National Family and Survivors Circle, said groups like the Manitoba Organization for Victim Assistance are helpful for many families grieving the loss of a loved one who was killed.

"It's part of their healing, part of their wellness and part of their remembering of their loved ones who they've lost as a result of a homicide," said Anderson-Pyrz, whose organization supports families and survivors and was established in response to the calls for action from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

Having that kind of support can be especially important when killings go unsolved for years, she said.

"So many families who were here today have lost loved ones several years ago and they don't have any form of justice and they don't know … who took their loved one away from them," she said.

"It's important to family members … to remember their loved one and to know that their voice has not been silenced, but also to raise awareness."

Anderson-Pyrz's sister, Dawn Anderson, died in 2011 under mysterious circumstances. 

Anderson was 37 when she was found frozen to death not far from her front doorstep. Her death was ruled as exposure due to intoxication, but Anderson-Pyrz said there are too many unanswered questions from that night for her family to accept that ruling.

She said she knows first-hand how important it is to have support while dealing with something like that.

"The journey of justice for a family who's experienced a homicide is very difficult to walk alone," she said.

"Families should not be advocating on their own."