Annual Vigil Against Violence to Focus on Local Woman

It has been 10 years since Maisy Odjick, a former resident of the Saugeen First Nation community, disappeared.

She is one of almost 1,200 Indigenous women reported missing and or murdered in Canada since 1980 according to the recent MMIWG Inquiry.

On Thursday Dec. 6, the Canadian Federation of University Women (CFUW) Southport will be holding a vigil to remember Maisy as part of the National Day of Action in memory of the 14 women killed on Dec. 6, 1989 Montreal’s Ecole Polytechnique and other female victims of violence.

“She was a free spirit,” said Maisy’s mother, Laurie Odjick. “She brought life into our family. We all just miss her.”

“My hope is always she is out there somewhere. But my insides tell me something horribly went wrong.”

Originally from Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg reserve near Maniwaki, Quebec, Maisy and her family moved to Saugeen in 2004 for three years where she attended GC Huston Elementary School.

On Sept. 6, 2008, Maisy and her friend, Shannon Alexander, 17, were planning to attend a dance and later spend the night at Shannon’s house. The next day, all of their belongings were found at Shannon’s house. The girls were never seen again. Maisy would have been 27 this year.

Violence against women continues to be a prevalent problem. Since 1990, about 750 women in Ontario have been killed by a former or current male partner or a man closely known to them, according to the Ontario Association of Interval and Transition Homes. That’s an average of 25 a year, or two every month. CFUW Is committed to finding solutions to gender-based violence.

Family members of Maisy are slated to address the vigil which starts at 12 Noon on Dec. 6 at Coulter Parkette in Port Elgin. Everyone is welcome.