Dozens march in Vancouver 3 years after deaths of Indigenous women, girl

Akshay Kulkarni · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 21, 2025 8:19 PM EDT | Last Updated: little than a infinitesimal ago

WARNING: This communicative discusses unit against Indigenous women and girls and whitethorn impact those who person experienced it oregon cognize idiosyncratic who has.

Dozens of radical attended a march connected Monday to people 3 years since the bodies of 2 young Indigenous women and an Indigenous miss were separately discovered successful Metro Vancouver in the summertime of 2022.

The bodies of 24-year-old Chelsea Poorman, 20-year-old Tatyanna Harrison and 14-year-old Noelle O'Soup were recovered weeks isolated 3 years agone successful 2022.

A Vancouver constabulary serviceman is facing a misconduct probe successful transportation with O'Soup's death. An probe into the VPD's handling of Poorman's lawsuit was announced successful January.

Last week, CBC News exclusively revealed that the constabulary effect to Harrison's death was nether probe by the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner (OPCC), the civilian, autarkic bureau that oversees complaints into constabulary forces successful B.C.

In a march that drew dozens to Vancouver's Shaughnessy neighbourhood connected Monday, the victims' families reiterated their content that justness has not been served and constabulary person not decently investigated the deaths.

WATCH | Police effect to deaths being investigated: 

"It's been 3 years since each 3 ladies ... since they've been found," said Josie August, who is simply a comparative of O'Soup. "In each case, it's constabulary neglect owed to reporting erstwhile they're missing, however they've handled the investigations and the deficiency of investigations and accountability and jurisdiction."

O'Soup's assemblage was recovered connected May 1, 2022 in the Downtown Eastside flat of a antheral whom CBC News revealed was deemed a information to the public and ordered deported six years prior.

"As soon arsenic our radical are going missing, our women, they're not taking it serious," August said of police. "How galore much women person to spell missing from the Downtown Eastside for them to bash their job?"

March ends extracurricular Shaughnessy mansion

The march saw speakers speech astir the earthy interaction of the deaths extracurricular a mansion successful Vancouver's upscale Shaughnessy neighbourhood.

The then-empty mansion was wherever Poorman's assemblage was recovered connected April 22, 2022, with constabulary saying they believed astatine the clip that the Cree woman's assemblage had been determination for 18 months aft she initially went missing successful September 2020.

"There is thing I tin bash to bring my sister back, oregon Noelle, oregon Tatyanna, oregon the countless different sisters mislaid to this ongoing genocide," said Diamond Poorman, Chelsea's older sister.

"But what I tin do, and what we indispensable do, is fight. Fight for existent accountability. Fight for preventative measures. Fight to marque definite nary much families person to basal wherever we stand, heartbroken."

Speakers besides mourned the decease of Harrison, whose assemblage was recovered connected a yacht successful Richmond, B.C., months aft she was reported missing by her family.

Her mother, Natasha Harrison, told CBC News successful 2022 that she had nary thought however her girl ended up connected a vessel that is not accessible by nationalist transit, without her clothes, and without idiosyncratic identification. No drugs were recovered connected the vessel with her, adjacent arsenic constabulary said she died of fentanyl toxicity.

Stewart Phillip, the president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, told the march that arsenic agelong arsenic radical kept showing up to retrieve them, the beingness of the slain Indigenous women and miss would not spell away.

"We request to proceed until governments and constabulary agencies and the justness strategy itself has a systemic shift, to the constituent wherever they admit america genuinely arsenic peoples worthy of dignity and respect," Phillip said.

If you're successful contiguous information oregon fearfulness for your information oregon that of others astir you, delight telephone 911. If you're affected by intimate spouse violence, you tin look for assistance through crisis lines and section enactment services.