Manitoba makes Oct. 4 official day to honour MMIWG

Manitoba politicians have voted: Oct. 4 will now be recognized in the province as the official day to honour missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

"I say meegwetch to all members of the assembly who supported Bill 221 to honour Manitoba's missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls and their families," NDP MLA Nahanni Fontaine said in a release.

"The families have long fought to draw attention to the crisis of violence against Indigenous women and girls."

Fontaine introduced the bill, dubbed the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Honouring and Awareness Day Act. It received unanimous support Thursday during a vote at the Manitoba Legislature.

Fontaine said the bill will bring more recognition to the plight of Indigenous women and girls in Canada. RCMP estimate more than 1,200 Indigenous women and girls have disappeared or been killed over the passed four decades.

Vigils for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls have been held on Oct. 4 across Canada in recent years.