The murder trial that looks into the death of Sherri Flett will take place this week, prompting a rally that took place Monday in front of the Fort McMurray Provincial Court House.
Flett was reported missing in the middle of January 2022 and was found dead eight days later after a search party of nearly 100 volunteers scoured the area for her.
Rally organizer Lori Cyprien – who is Sherri Flett’s cousin – says when it comes to addressing generational trauma experienced by Indigenous people, mental health has to be a priority.
“There are no services (available) for another month; it’s really difficult to get those services when somebody’s ready,” Cyprien said. “We need to have those now in place so when somebody decides that they want the help that it’s available in a timely manner.”
Cyprien says missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls need to be taken just as seriously as any other missing person.
“A lot of people turn a blind eye. They look at excuses like their lifestyle, this is not the case,” Cyprien said. “Everybody needs to be protected; we can’t be going out into the world being afraid to go into a convenience store, to go into a gas station; we need to be protected and taken seriously.”
Cyprien says support from the community has been greatly appreciated.
“I saw it first-hand during the searches; we’ve had hundreds of people come through to help us comb through Fort McMurray, looking in the woods, knocking on doors,” Cyprien said. “It really warms my heart to have that support. We couldn’t have done all of this stuff without them.”
Cyprien adds the court proceedings are scheduled to take three weeks.
Timothy McDougall is charged with first-degree murder and indignity to a human body. The charge was upgraded from second-degree murder in May 2023.