Local men honoured with Star Blankets for MMIWG walk
With tears in their eyes and gratitude in their hearts, Conrad Burns and Pernell Ballantyne were cloaked with Star Blankets from the PAGC Women’s Commission on Sunday.
The two men walked from Saskatoon to Prince Albert over the weekend to highlight the need for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) inquiry to hold hearings in Prince Albert.
Ballantyne lost his sister Monica Burns three years ago. He said his sister was in his thoughts along the walk and on the stage at the Senator Allen Bird Memorial Centre Sunday night, during a rally in support of Colten Boushie and his family.
“I walked this road three years ago and I will walk it again and again and again … as long as we get that justice,” he said, holding back tears. “I know, with my sister … the justice system failed her. The justice system failed Colten Boushie. It means so much or me and for my people to rise up. Let’s be strong as a nation.”