SEATON, B.C. — Rogers Communications announced today it has started construction on the first of 12 new cell towers that will help close gaps and improve safety along B.C.’s Highway 16 between Prince Rupert and Prince George, known as the Highway of Tears due to the many Indigenous women and girls who have disappeared or were found murdered on the route.
“At Rogers, we are deeply committed to reconciliation and to using our technology to help connect rural, remote and Indigenous communities,” said Jorge Fernandes, chief technology officer at Rogers Communications, in a press release.
“It is our hope that by providing the safety of wireless connectivity along Highway 16, we can honour survivors, victims and their families and communities by taking action to address the tragic crisis of murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls here for the past many decades.”
The wireless network expansion (announced in April) “will provide 252 km of new cellular coverage across Highway 16, closing key gaps to ensure continuous coverage along all 720 km of the corridor, establishing a safer environment for travel and fulfilling one of the 33 recommendations in the 2006 Highway of Tears Symposium report to enhance safety for Indigenous women and girls,” reads the press release.
As part of the project, Rogers will provide wireless coverage to three provincial highway rest stops at Boulder Creek, Basalt Creek and Sanderson Point.
The wireless expansion along Highway 16 is partially funded by the B.C. government’s Connecting British Columbia program and the federal government’s Universal Broadband Fund.
“It means the world to me and our women to connect with others and keep in touch, especially on this highway — anything can happen at any given time,” said Gladys Radek, a Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) activist.
“This tower and project will bring a lifeline to all of us who travel along Highway 16 regularly and will bring a sense of safety and security that will help us prevent future tragedies.”
Rogers also announced it has sponsored the “Two Sisters” totem poles as part of the Highway of Tears Commemoration and Healing Totem Pole series, a project initiated by MMIWG families and the Indian Residential School Survivors Society (IRSSS). (Please click here to watch a video on this.)
“The memorial Totem Poles will be placed at each end of the Highway of Tears — one in Prince George and one in Prince Rupert and will offer two safe places where families can commemorate and honour their lost loved ones,” explains the press release.
For more, please click here.
Photo supplied by Rogers Communications.
