A vigil was held in Cabot Square Friday for two Inuit women who died in Montreal last week.
27 year olds Sharon Barron and Siasi Tullaugak had both come to Montreal in search of a better life. Barron was found dead in her home in Dorval, and Tullaugak was found in her downtown apartment just two days later.
David Chapman with the Open Door drop-in centre tells CTV both women had lived on the streets for several years and both had been making great strides in improving their lives. He believes more needs to be done to help the homeless and low-income people.
Native Women's Shelter of Montreal director Nakuset says Barron and Tullaugak are being remembered in the hopes that their deaths do not simply contribute to the growing number of missing and murdered Indigenous women. She says police often classify deaths as suicides so that they don't have to investigate any further. But she's hoping they get to the bottom of what happened and treat the case as they would for anyone else.
Montreal police say they believe both women committed suicide but acknowledged the coroner's report has yet to come in. They say they will re-examine the cases if more information is brought to light.