First steps taken in long walk to symposium

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After receiving acknowledgment from local leaders, including North Coast MLA Gary Coons and the parents of a missing young woman, Florence Naziel appeared awkward with the attention and could only say in a cracking voice: "Thank you."

And with those words Naziel set out on March 11 to walk the stretch of highway that nine young women-seven of them Aboriginal-have walked since 1989 and were either killed or never heard from again.

Naziel was joined by almost 30 supporters, including Coons, Prince Rupert Mayor Herb Pond, First Nations representatives and women's group members, as she strode down Prince Rupert's Third Avenue, down McBride Street and out to Highway 16. She is hoping her efforts will raise more awareness of the tragedies.

"This walk is in honor of all the missing women, not only on this stretch of highway but throughout B.C. and Canada," explained Naziel, 56, who actually knows the families of three of the missing women and is cousin to a fourth, the Chipmans, whose daughter, Tamara disappeared last September.

"My daughter kept asking me 'What can we do?' after Tamara went missing, and I came up with this walk."

The Highway of Tears Walk will see Naziel, a resident of Morricetown, go as far as Smithers. There the walk will be picked up by Matilda Wilson-the mother of Ramona Wilson, whose remains were found in 1994-and be carried on to Prince George, where a community symposium on the Highway of Tears is being held March 30 and 31.

Naziel's plan was to walk at 10-hour clips, have the spot where she ended marked, and then resume walking from there the following morning after staying overnight in a hotel.

In the morning gathering at the Prince Rupert Friendship House held before the walk, Naziel was embraced by her cousin Tom, Tamara's father, and he struggled to compose himself as he spoke of what he and his family have gone through in the past six months since his daughter was last seen hitchhiking on the outskirts of Rupert.

"My heart goes out to all the other families who have lost their daughters. I understand the great pain they're feeling right now," he said in a quiet voice.

"This walk is definitely a good thing," he added. "Tamara's case has brought some awareness, but I don't think there's enough interest in the south to what's going on up here in the north."

Well, at least, not until now.

The province's solicitor general's office has turned the heat up on things following the discovery of 14-year-old Aielah Saric-Auger's body on Highway 16 outside of Prince George last month and is co-sponsoring the symposium, along with the area First Nation, Lheidli T-enneh.

Solicitor General John Les said there are now more than 35 RCMP officers investigating the Highway of Tears cases. He and RCMP officials were slated to attend the symposium to updates the status of the investigations.

As far as some are concerned, the symposium and heightened actions by the province, are long overdue.

"These sorts of things should not be happening in our communities," said Jean Gardiner of Amnesty International's Rupert chapter. "I don't think the people down south understand how vast of an area this is. It's unacceptable to have these children taken from their communities and violated."

"What can we do to stop this horrendous infiltration of our quiet world? We need to clean up that highway."

MLA Coons agreed, adding that it is also an opportunity to look at greater problems in northern B.C. which are related to the problem of women going missing.

"This is an issue that's been haunting not only this community but the entire north for a long time," said Coons. "As a member of the legislature, I am committed to bringing this issue up, but not just this issue, but of the poverty and violence that goes on throughout the North."