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Sisters in Spirit Vigil attracts attention

Solid student body
turnout helps spread
the message

 

his past week on October

1 at the New Westminster
campus, the Douglas Students’
Union (DSU) held a Sisters in
Spirit Vigil. The annual vigil is
put on to raise awareness for the
many missing and murdered
First Nations women across
Canada.

The inspiring event was

dolls were representative of the
“faceless” missing women—
faceless because Canada is
largely ignoring the issue.

The goal of the Faceless Dolls
Project is to create a visual
representation of the missing
and ignored women. Many
students got into the spirit of the
event and put together the dolls,
which were on display in the
concourse for all to see.

The Sisters in Spirit Vigil
has significant meaning for the
Lower Mainland, since this is
one of Canada’s epicentres in
the missing aboriginal women’s
saga. Both the Downtown
Eastside’s record of missing
women, and the actions of serial
killer Robert Pickton—who

will take action and launch an
inquiry. This past May while at
an event hosted by the Council
for Foreign Relations in New
York City, Harper stated that
he “[remains] very skeptical
of commissions of inquiry
generally. My experience has
been they almost always run
way over time, way over budget,
and often the recommendations
prove to be of limited utility.”
The Canadian Government
may not be taking much action
on the issue, but other groups are
picking up the slack and offering
hope to affected parties. United
Nations Special Rapporteur
James Anaya will be in Canada
for a week-long analysis
looking, as he says, “at the issues

According to statistics trom the government of Canada, aboriginal women are tive
to seven times more likely to die trom violence, compared to other women.

held in the main concourse

and brought in a large number
of students, many of whom
were attracted by the offerings
of coffee and bannock but
stayed for the important
message. Madison Paradis-
Woodman, DSU college relations
coordinator, said that the “main
purpose of this event is to
remember and honour the 582
recorded cases of missing and
murdered aboriginal women
across Canada.”

One way this was done
was to allow event participants
the chance to create faceless
dolls. These aboriginal-themed

admitted to the murders of 49
women, including First Nations
women—make this a very
personal and important issue to
local citizens.

According to statistics from
the government of Canada,
aboriginal women are five to
seven times more likely to die
from violence, compared to other
women. It’s for reasons such as
this that Paradis- Woodman had
students at the event sign and fill
out postcards “to send directly
to Prime Minister Harper asking
to start a formal national inquiry
into the missing women.”

It doesn’t appear, though,
that Prime Minster Harper

faced by First Nations, Inuit
and Métis people in Canada,
including in relation to matters
of reconciliation, governance
and self-government; lands and
resources; and health, education
and economic development.”
Though there are still a
lot of unanswered questions
surrounding the many cases
of missing aboriginal women,
events such as the Sisters
in Spirit Vigil are spreading
hope throughout Canadian
communities.

 

Photo courtesy of Aidan Mouellic

 

October marks Small Business Month

Small Business BC to
provide tree educational
seminars to entrepreneurs

Patnick
> Voiloncourt
il Mews Editor

he provincial government
has proclaimed October
to be Small Business Month,

a proclamation that they’ve
renewed for the last seven years.
To mark the event, Small

Business BC is providing some
of its seminars and workshops
free of charge to people
interested in attending. Seminars
are largely held in Vancouver,

 

the province’s economic hub,
but many will be conducted
online so that business owners
across the province may benefit.

George Hunter, the

~EO of Small Business
-, said in a statement
at business education is
itical to developing strong
itrepreneurs.

“Small Business Month is an
opportunity for entrepreneurs
to learn about the many great
resources that exist to help
them succeed,” said Hunter in a
statement to the media. “We feel
that having the knowledge and
skills to back a business idea
will only lead to stronger and
more successful entrepreneurs
in the province.”

Small business in the
private sector accounts for
roughly 30 per cent of Canada’s
GDP according to Industry
Canada. Small business also
made up about 37 per cent of all
private sector jobs created in the
10 years between 1997 and 2007.

Small Business
Month kicked off with an
announcement from the
provincial government that six
Lower Mainland communities
came together on an initiative
that allows for mobile business
licencing. The Metro-West Inter-
municipal Business Licence
agreement allows for mobile
businesses to operate in the
participating communities with
a single business licence.

Naomi Yamamoto, the
province's minister of state
for small business, said that
streamlining processes is just
one of the key themes in the
government's jobs plan.

“The BC government is
committed to working with
local governments to find ways
to support businesses and
streamline processes in every
community,” said Yamamoto.
“Mobile business licences cut
red tape for contractors and
others who may work in more
than one community, and we
will continue to work to get
other municipalities to adopt the
program and reap the rewards.”

The cities of Vancouver,
Burnaby, New Westminster,

Delta, Richmond, and Surrey are
participating in the endeavour.
New Westminster Mayor
Wayne Wright said that he’s
pleased to partner up with the
surrounding communities to cut
red tape out of mobile business
licensing.
“Reducing obstacles for
businesses and making it
easier for them to thrive is a
key objective for our city,” said
Mayor Wright in a statement.
For more information on
seminars and workshops hosted
by Small Business BC, including
information on starting
and financing a business,
visit their website at www.
smallbusinessbc.ca