At noon today, Conrad Burns and Pernell Ballantyne will begin their walk from Saskatoon to Prince Albert to raise awareness for murdered and missing Indigenous women in the province’s north.
“We want the stories in the north to be heard,” says Burns. “(We) hope to encourage people to bring new leads up so these women can be found.”
The journey will begin at a monument devoted to murdered and missing girls in Saskatoon and will end when the pair cross the Diefenbaker Bridge in Prince Albert.
In addition to raising awareness, the walkers are hoping to bring attention to the need for the National Inquiry into Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls to host an event in the province’s north. They also say they are walking in honour of their late relative, Monica Burns, who was beaten to death in 2015.
“This walk is a personal way of honouring my late sister’s life and I feel strongly that being able to share my sister’s testimony with the MMIWG NI were important steps to our family healing,” says Ballantyne. “These steps should include families that did not have an opportunity to redress the factors in their loved one’s testimony.”
Conrad Burns says that he hopes that anyone out there that wants to raise awareness will reach out to members of the community for support.
“There is a lot of people out there want to help you and organize things and stand behind you and support you,” remarked Conrad Burns. ” Ask questions and ask the people that have done it how they can support you in this because they can spend their time and energy to help you.”
The pair will be walking along Highway 11 and are hoping to reach their destination by 3 pm on Sunday.
(PHOTO: Poster for the walk. Photo courtesy of Conrad Burns, Facebook.)