Founded in 2010, Red Dress Day is observed annually in Canada on May 5. (Lauryn Mackenzie/ CHLY 101.7fm)

Every May is a reminder of the crisis impacting B.C.’s missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

“It's been a very heavy few days, just doing presentations and speaking here today. But this is what I live to do. I'm just so grateful. I feel grateful right now just seeing, being here today and seeing Nanaimo come together for this important Red Dress Day,” said Leah Vaisanen, Policy Lead for missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people at the Native Women’s Association of Canada.

Founded in 2010, Red Dress Day is observed annually in Canada on May 5. The 2026 Nanaimo march began at Port Place shopping centre and made its way to Maffeo Sutton Park.

Vaisanen told CHLY she has been marching for those missing and murdered for multiple years now.

“I'm marching for everyone that's here. The women and girls that have been silenced and have been not found, and families that continue to search for their loved ones and their missing ones. They're here fighting for themselves while they don't have any support from government services, proper help, proper support.”

During the march, red hand paint and cedar rose making were offered for participants. Elder Lolly Good of Snuneymuxw First Nation opened the event with a welcoming song.

Lily Thomas from Cowichan First Nation addressed the crowd and shared who she is marching for.

“There's been a lot of people in my family and my community that have gone missing. At least 11 I can count. Most recently is my auntie Rosemarie Harry. She went missing Jan. 28 this year, and her family's still looking for her. My auntie's out at first it was every day looking for her all around Cowichan, down the river but searches have started to dwindle out because life's getting busy, summer's starting. In the next ten days, it will be my late cousin Leeanne Joe's, it would have been her twentieth birthday on May 15. She's been deceased for two years now. We haven't got any justice for her.”

A 2023 federal report found that between 2009 and 2021, 490 Indigenous women and girls were the victims of homicide in Canada. They were murdered at a rate six times higher than their non-Indigenous counterparts.

Meagan Anderson is the director of Cedar Women Transition House. She talked about the importance of community participation.

“ I think sometimes when people hear Red Dress Day or missing, murdered Indigenous women and girls, they don't really think that it's much of a local problem. As we heard from the speakers today, and also just in photos of the audience holding pictures of their loved ones, this is very much a local problem. We have a number of people who are missing, or who have been murdered on Vancouver Island and central Vancouver Island. So it really comes down to the reality that this is a community responsibility. We all play a role in making sure that we are speaking and standing up for justice for those who aren't able to anymore.”

Leah Vaisanen said it’s important for the non-Indigenous community to join the march in solidarity.

“ Allyship is really important too nowadays, and having non-indigenous and allies join these specific gatherings is important because you feel they wanna learn. They wanna ask the questions. They wanna be part of the story, and they are here to learn about what is happening, because I feel a lot of the time right now, the people that I'm meeting, they don't know what is happening with MMIW, and that's really saddening to hear, because this is an ongoing crisis that is happening today, every moment that we wake up.”

Vaisanen believed that systemic changes can be implemented to help.

“We need to have a proper alert system, to have an alert system to bring our women home, to notify that this woman has gone missing, instead of having our families and grassroots organizations performing searches and findings for the missing.”

Vaisanen said the issue has stayed stagnant for years.

“Honestly, I feel that we are still at the same place that we were last year. Yes, there has been some progress across Canada, but to say that any improvement, I will say no.”

Vaisanen said women in her community continue to face this crisis and calls for government action.

Photos from Red Dress March Tuesday May 5. Downtown Nanaimo. (Lauryn Mackenzie/CHLY 101.7 FM)

Funding Note: This story was produced with funding support from the Local Journalism Initiative, administered by the Community Radio Fund of Canada.