Nearly 150 people gathered outside of Prince Albert City Hall Thursday morning to remember those we have lost to violence over the past year.
The 11th annual Honouring our Sisters and Brothers Memorial Walk put on by the PAGC’s Women’s Commission took place. The participants braved the hot sun and a shot of rain to walk from city hall to the Senator Allen Bird Gymnasium, a distance of nearly 3 kilometres.
Chair of the Women’s Commission, Shirley Henderson, says the walk is a way to honour the men and women who have been lost over the past year.
“It is just a time to bring people together to discuss their feelings and get the word out to our young people that safety should come first wherever they are going and to always remember that,” said Henderson.
She also said several people attended the memorial from all over the province including a group from Wollaston Lake.
This year’s memorial took on a special significance for the sisters of Monica Burns whose body was found murdered outside of Prince Albert earlier this year.
“I guess it doesn’t really hit home until it happens in your life,” said Monica’s sister Michelle Burns. “You always hear about these things happening to women and when it hits home…it hurts.”
Monica’s other sister Sara Carriere-Burns says today’s walk helps offer healing for them as well as all of the others who have lost loved ones.
“It shows everybody that our missing and murdered loved ones were somebody and we are taking a stand for them.”
The memorial walk did coincide with a memorial for Danielle Nyland. Nyland is the young Prince Albert woman whose remains were found Friday night in a wooded area east of Shellbrook. Her remains were found about two weeks after she disappeared.
Participants during the Memorial Walk took a moment of silence to Honour Danielle’s memory.