OTTAWA — Gender Equality Minister Maryam Monsef says the federal government will fund more than 100 projects to “honour the lives and legacies” of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

Funding for the commemorations will come from a $13-million fund Monsef unveiled today in Winnipeg.

Last winter, the government asked for proposals for commemorations, anticipating the report this month of the national inquiry into the generations of Indigenous women and girls who have gone missing, or known to have been killed.

Monsef says the approved projects include events, activities and creative works organized by First Nations, friendship centres and social-service agencies that help Indigenous people.

The approvals were underway when the national inquiry reported at the beginning of June.

In their report, the inquiry commissioners said they were glad to see the government funding these projects, but weren’t pleased that only “legally constituted organizations” would receive money, leaving out informal and grassroots groups.

(The Canadian Press)