Mayor Andre Murphy joined dozens of residents in The Pas, Manitoba on August 6 for the 7th Annual Remembering Kendara Memorial Walk, an event honouring 18-year-old Kendara Ballantyne and raising awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit persons. The walk began behind the University College of the North campus, the same place where Ballantyne’s remains were found in 2019, and ended at Devon Park with a community barbecue.
Ballantyne went missing on July 18, 2019, while walking down Cathedral Avenue, and her remains were found less than three weeks later. In October 2022, RCMP classified her death as a homicide, but the cause of death has not been released and no arrests have been made.
The Pembina Valley REDress Project took part in the walk and displayed a special red dress with Ballantyne’s name embroidered on it to honour her memory. The project uses red dress art installations to draw attention to MMIWG2S+.
Mayor Murphy’s participation came just four days before he announced his resignation on August 10, 2026, saying he wanted to be closer to family and grandchildren. He was first elected mayor in 2022.
The annual walk has become a tradition for the community to remember Ballantyne and call for justice in her case, as well as to support her family. The Nisiiminan Safe Rides program, named after the Cree phrase for “my little sister,” was created in 2019 to help keep women safe in The Pas and Opaskwayak Cree Nation area.
