Dozens march in Vancouver 3 years after deaths of Indigenous women, girl
Police response to deaths of Tatyanna Harrison, Noelle O'Soup and Chelsea Poorman now under scrutiny
WARNING: This story discusses violence against Indigenous women and girls and may affect those who have experienced it or know someone who has.
Dozens of people attended a march on Monday to mark three years since the bodies of two young Indigenous women and an Indigenous girl were separately discovered in Metro Vancouver in the summer of 2022.
The bodies of 24-year-old Chelsea Poorman, 20-year-old Tatyanna Harrison and 14-year-old Noelle O'Soup were found weeks apart three years ago in 2022.
A Vancouver police officer is facing a misconduct investigation in connection with O'Soup's death. An investigation into the VPD's handling of Poorman's case was announced in January.
Last week, CBC News exclusively revealed that the police response to Harrison's death was under investigation by the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner (OPCC), the civilian, independent office that oversees complaints into police forces in B.C.
In a march that drew dozens to Vancouver's Shaughnessy neighbourhood on Monday, the victims' families reiterated their belief that justice has not been served and police have not properly investigated the deaths.
"It's been three years since all three ladies ... since they've been found," said Josie August, who is a relative of O'Soup. "In every case, it's police neglect due to reporting when they're missing, how they've handled the investigations and the lack of investigations and accountability and jurisdiction."
O'Soup's body was found on May 1, 2022 in the Downtown Eastside apartment of a man whom CBC News revealed was deemed a danger to the public and ordered deported six years prior.
"As soon as our people are going missing, our women, they're not taking it serious," August said of police. "How many more women have to go missing from the Downtown Eastside for them to do their job?"
Speeches outside Shaughnessy mansion
The march saw speakers talk about the raw impact of the deaths outside a mansion in Vancouver's upscale Shaughnessy neighbourhood.
The then-empty mansion was where Poorman's body was found on April 22, 2022, with police saying they believed at the time that the Cree woman's body had been there for 18 months after she initially went missing in September 2020.
"There is nothing I can do to bring my sister back, or Noelle, or Tatyanna, or the countless other sisters lost to this ongoing genocide," said Diamond Poorman, Chelsea's older sister.
"But what I can do, and what we must do, is fight. Fight for real accountability. Fight for preventative measures. Fight to make sure no more families have to stand where we stand, heartbroken."
Speakers also mourned the death of Harrison, whose body was found on a yacht in Richmond, B.C., months after she was reported missing by her family.
Her mother, Natasha Harrison, told CBC News in 2022 that she had no idea how her daughter ended up on a boat that is not accessible by public transit, without her clothes, and without personal identification. No drugs were found on the boat with her, even as police said she died of fentanyl toxicity.
Stewart Phillip, the president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, told the march that as long as people kept showing up to remember them, the presence of the slain Indigenous women and girl would not go away.
"We need to continue until governments and police agencies and the justice system itself has a systemic shift, to the point where they recognize us truly as peoples worthy of dignity and respect," Phillip said.
Crisis support is available for anyone affected by these reports and the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous people through a national 24-hour hotline at 1-844-413-6649.
Health support services such as mental health counselling, community-based support and cultural services, and some travel costs to see elders and traditional healers are available through the government of Canada. Family members seeking information about a missing or murdered loved one can access Family Information Liaison Units.
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With files from Michelle Ghoussoub