Native groups have formed a partnership with the government in Manitoba to protect women in the province.

The Manitoba Action Group on Exploited and Vulnerable Women was already in the works when two young Native women were killed in Winnipeg. Acting Aboriginal Affairs Minister Eric Robinson said the province should have moved quicker.

"I wish we had announced this before any other deaths occurred..., but apparently sometimes government -- and I take responsibility -- sometimes government works slow," said Robinson, The Winnipeg Free Press reported. "It's long overdue, unfortunately."

Partners in the effort include the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, Métis Women of Manitoba, Mother of Red Nations Women's Council and the Native Women's Transition Centre. The group will assist the separately formed Manitoba Integrated Task Force for Missing and Murdered Women that was launched in response to the deaths of Cherisse Houle, 17, and Hillary Angel Wilson, 18.

Native groups say 75 Native women have gone missing in Manitoba in the last two decades. In Canada, over 500 Native women have gone missing or were killed under suspicious circumstances.

Get the Story:
Group to protect vulnerable women in Manitoba (CBC 9/3)
Action group to protect native women (The Winnipeg Free Press 9/4)

Related Stories:
Column: Action on missing Native women overdue (9/3)
Task force launched after deaths of Native girls (8/27)