May 5 marks Red Dress Day; a day to honour the lives of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit people (MMIWG2S+), and to stand in solidarity with their families, communities, and loved ones.

Red Dress Day began with the REDress Project by Métis artist Jaime Black. Lone red dresses displayed in public spaces have become a stark and haunting reminder of those no longer here. They represent absence and loss. They represent the enduring presence of those whose lives were taken.

May 5 spotlights a national crisis rooted in systemic inequality, colonialism, and ongoing discrimination. Indigenous women and girls continue to face disproportionately high rates of violence in Canada. Red Dress Day is a day of remembrance and a call to action. We have a shared responsibility to confront the ways this violence persists. It requires meaningful commitment to the Calls for Justice from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, and to the broader work of decolonization, reconciliation, accountability, and systemic change.