b'TREE OF HOPEThe National Inquiry into Missing andassociation early on with the idea of Murdered Indigenous Women andraising awareness in the community, and Girls released its final report in 2019ONWA stepped up to the plate. ThePROJECT SPONSORSwith 231 Calls for Justice. The Treeassociation participated in numerous of Hope Project addresses 24 of theplanning meetings and worked collabor- Beendigenrecommendations in the Inquirys finalatively with Bourdeau on the website. ItCanadian Tirereport. We believe it provides comfortalso actively engaged youth through its to some of the grieving families andmall display and, with the help of itsCity of Thunder Bayhelps acknowledge and honour thededicated volunteers, raised funds forCNmemory of these women and girls,the valuable initiative. CP says Bourdeau. The MMIWG Tree of Hope Project was initiatedONWAs executive director CoraDilico Anishinabek Family Careat Christmas time with the thoughtMcGuire-Cyrette, who spoke on behalf of bringing home the souls of thoseof the association on the night of theEconomy Printingmissing and/or murdered at a timetree lighting, outlined how the projectEquipment World Rentalswhen families should be together.presented a special opportunity for all the partner agencies to come togetherFamily Information Liason Unit (FILU)A tall fir tree in front of the policeand contribute to the healing for thoseFort William First Nationstation was adorned with red lights,who have experienced MMIWG. She each one representing a missing oralso announced that ONWA wouldFull Moon Memory Walkmurdered Indigenous woman or girlmatch the roughly $6,000 that hadGrand Council Treaty #3in Canada. The tree was topped withalready been raised by that point,ISC The Heart of our Citya blue star to represent the supportand challenged other organizations to being provided by law enforcement.contribute to the cause as well.Ka-Na-Chi-Hih Specialized Solvent Abuse The lights were first turned onTreatment CentreNovember 24, 2019, and remained onToday, the project is half-way to its fund-throughout the holiday season untilraising goal, which began with a $1,000MetroJanuary 12, 2020.donation from the Thunder Bay PoliceNishnawbe Aski NationAssociation and another $1,000 from Bourdeau emphasizes that the effortthe Thunder Bay Police Services Board.Ontario Native Womens Association was not hers alone. I could notIt still needs to raise another $26,000 to(ONWA)have launched this project withoutreach its goal.Signal Resources Ltd.the support and dedication from the secretary of the Thunder Bay PoliceProject organizers also partnered withTBT Engineering Consulting GroupAssociation Anna Barile, who isThunder Bay District Crime StoppersTents & Eventsco-chair of this project, and her sonto manage the tips they receive. Since Noah Barile, our information tech- Crime Stoppers has a payout limit ofThe Chronicle Journalnology and media relations youth$2,000, we felt it was necessary to findThunder Bay District Crime Stoppersmember, who designed our website,a way to increase the reward to a more linking it to our GoFundMe page.substantial amount, says Bourdeau. WeThunder Bay Fire / RescueBoth spent countless hours helping mehope it will inspire other police servicesThunder Bay Indigenous Friendship Centreinitiate the project, she says.and their community members across Canada to join us on the road of reconcili- Thunder Bay Police ServiceONWA also played a key roleation in our efforts, allowing IndigenousTim Hortonsin the development of Tree ofpeople to heal and helping us lay a new Hope. Bourdeau had approached theroad to a stronger relationship.Maricel Ramos runs a financial planning practice in downtown Toronto, under the umbrella of IG Wealth Management. We create and monitor financial plans, which include retirement planning, cash flow planning, tax planning, investment planning, insurance planning and estate planning.Working with Indigenous groups across Canada through financial stewardship, in accordance with Trust settlements and creating investment portfolios that align with community values and MARICEL RAMOS investment risk tolerance for short term and long-term financial goals. CPA, CGA, CFP, RRCFinancial Consultant, Trademarks, including IG Wealth Management and IG Private Wealth Investors Group FinancialManagement, are owned by IGM Financial Inc. and licensed to subsidiary Services Inc. corporations. Insurance products and services distributed through I.G. maricelramos.ca Insurance Services Inc. Insurance license sponsored by Canada Life.Ontario Native Womens Association23'