THUNDER BAY -- Twenty-three years ago the meaning of Valentine’s Day was forever changed for Sharon Johnson.
On Feb. 13, 1992, the body of her 18-year-old sister, Sandra Kaye Johnson, was found on the frozen Neebing-McIntyre floodway by a passerby. To this day, the person responsible for her sister’s murder has never been identified.
That’s the reason why seven years ago she started the Valentine’s Day Memorial Walk in honour of her sister and the other more than 1,100 other indigenous women who have been murdered or gone missing in Canada since 1980.
“This one in particular is important to me because of the anniversary of my sister’s unsolved murder,” she said.
More than 70 people participated in the seventh annual memorial march on Saturday, starting at Thunder Bay city hall before proceeding down May Street and concluding at the Lakehead Labour Centre.
Frigid temperatures, with wind chill values dipping below – 30C, did not deter people from showing their support.
“I knew that once we had the word out there is usually no stopping it,” Johnson said.
“I wasn’t expecting that (many people). I was really surprised and pleased with the turnout.”
People participating in the walk carried photographs and signs in memory of the women who had been taken from their lives.
Aileen Joseph has been in Thunder Bay for the past number of days, arriving for the three-day gathering for families of missing and murdered ingenious women hosted last week by the Chiefs of Ontario.
Her daughter, Shelley, was murdered in Hamilton in 2004.
She said walks and gatherings are critical for the families to find support and keep the memory of their loved ones alive.
“It gives us so much strength,” Joseph said. “There’s nobody out there that can say it doesn’t matter and it’s time to forget. We know we’re never going to forget. It’s something you don’t forget.”
