Dave Baxter
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Winnipeg Sun
Ten years ago, the body of a teenage girl was discovered in a Winnipeg river, sparking a national conversation about the safety of Indigenous women in Canada, and ultimately leading to what would become the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.
Tina Fontaine was just 15 years old when her 72-pound body was found in the Red River near the Alexander Docks in downtown Winnipeg wrapped in plastic and a duvet cover and weighed down by rocks, on the afternoon of Aug. 17, 2014.
The shocking discovery opened up a wider conversation across the country about how a girl so young could meet such a tragic and gruesome death, and about the number of Indigenous women and girls in the country that had gone missing or been murdered over the past several decades.
Fontaine’s death was seen as a catalyst in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau calling a national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in 2015 soon after being elected to office, and the Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls was released in 2019, and contained 231 Calls for Justice directed at Canadian governments, institutions, social service providers, industries and all Canadians.
Events are planned in Winnipeg both this weekend and next week to honour Fontaine’s life and her legacy, as family members including her brother have announced on social media that the Remembering Tina Fontaine gathering will take place this Saturday starting at 8 p.m. at the Alexander Docks, the same spot where her body was discovered 10 years ago.
Provincial Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine announced on Friday morning on her Facebook page that she plans to host a ceremony next Friday, Aug. 16 at the MMIWG2S Monument at the Forks at 11 a.m. where she said community members can gather to remember Fontaine, and where she said the province will make “important announcements.”
Fontaine, along with Housing, Addictions and Homelessness Minister Bernadette Smith announced Thursday the NDP government will release their own previously announced provincial strategy on missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people in October, a strategy that will include a $15 million endowment fund to support MMIWG2S+ families, which will be managed by The Winnipeg Foundation.
Fontaine will also be attending a community memorial walk and feast for Tina Fontaine in Sagkeeng First Nation on Saturday alongside special advisor Cora Morgan, who assisted in developing the provincial strategy.
Fifty three-year-old Raymond Cormier was arrested for the death of Fontaine in December 2015 and charged with second-degree murder. On Feb. 22, 2018, he was acquitted by a jury. Cormier died in Ottawa on April 3.
Ten years after her death, there has never been a conviction in Fontaine’s murder.
— Dave Baxter is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of the Winnipeg Sun. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
