'Our sisters are still not protected': Montrealers call for justice for Tina Fontaine

The failure to hold anyone accountable for the 2014 death of an Indigenous teenager brought several hundred people to Montreal's Cabot Square on Saturday, where they demanded more concrete action on reconciliation andurgent reforms to Canada's justice system.

"I have rage at the system that exerts discrimination,"Viviane Michel, who heads the advocacy group Quebec Native Women, told the crowd.

The vigil was heldto honour the memory of TinaFontaine, a 15-year-old girl whose body was found wrapped in a duvet cover and weighted down by rocks in Winnipeg's Red River three years ago.

Earlier this week, ajury acquitteda 56-year-old man ofsecond-degree murdercharges in her death. The verdict came down as Indigenous leaders and advocates were still reeling from the outcome of Gerald Stanley's murder trial.

Stanley was found not guilty of shootingColten Boushie, a 22-year-old member of the Cree Red Pheasant First Nation inSaskatchewan earlier this month.

"Two huge disappointments in such a small amount of time," said Michel.

The two trials have promptedrenewed calls to overhaul the justice and child welfare systems in Canada to ensure they treat Indigenous people with more equality.

Similar concerns have been voiced at Quebec's commission into Indigenous relations, which held hearings in Montreal earlier this month.

"We have to make change. What we are doing is not enough, as evidenced thispast week," saidEllen Gabriel, a Mohawkactivist.

About 400 people attendedthe Saturday afternoon vigil in Cabot Square, many holding signs with slogans such as"Justice brings healing" and"Do right."

'There are Tinaseverywhere'

Nakuset, the executive director of the Native Women's Shelter in Montreal, told the crowd that the teen'sdeath shouldn't be in vain.

"There areTinaseverywhere and we have to do better," she said.

After Fontaine's body was pulled from the river, her death shed national spotlight on the deaths and disappearances of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

The case prompted calls for a Canada-wide inquiry and spurred demandsfor federal action.

The federal governmentlaunched an independent national inquiry into the issuein September 2016.

But some say that little has been done to protect them.

OlepikaTakpanie, who lives in Montreal and is from Iqaluit, said that the lack of answers inFontaine'sdeath showsthat the lives and wellbeing ofIndigenous women and girls are less important than their Canadian counterparts.

"It's unacceptable to know that young Indigenous women in Canada are not protected by the justice system."

While it has been nearly four years since Fontaine's death,Michel said not much progress has been made to safeguardwomen and girls across the country from violence.

"We need equal justicetoo," saidMichel."I have a dream that we can have the equal protection thatyou all have."