A national walk across Canada to raise awareness for victims of violent crime stopped in Winnipeg Sunday.
The Freedom Walk tour raises awareness and money for survivors of violent crime.
"There is an issue and problem in Canada we've seen," said Rob Skelly, one of five people doing the walk. Skelly works with the Five with Drive Foundation that helped organize the walk.
"The victims' rights and the offenders' rights are very unbalanced, and what we're trying to do is make Canadians aware of that and give victims a voice," said Skelly.
Karen Wiebe went to the walk, which began at 1 p.m. Sunday. Her son T.J. was murdered in 2003.
"The issue of what we deal with in terms of being victims is very real and very hard. So to have someone come up and say, ‘Yeah, we're behind you,' it's amazing," said Wiebe.
The walk spans 4,500 kilometers and stops in numerous Canadian cities from Vancouver to Toronto. Winnipeg's walk was four km long and began at the legislative building.
"By the end of this we would have walked about 4,700 km -- so it's a little bit longer than 4,500 km," said Skelly. "The walk is grueling. We get up at about 3 a.m., and we walk for about 10 to 14 hours a day."
The walk stops at justice offices, police stations, services centers and schools to do presentations on bullying and victimization.
Five men in total are doing the walk including a member of the RCMP, a member of the Canadian Forces and a member of a municipal police force.
"Two of these individuals are police officers, and when the police stand up for victims' rights, that's always a great thing," said Wiebe.
Organizers said the walk will take 63 days to complete. The funds raised will also go towards a scholarship fund for victims of violent crime in Canada.
Members of the Canadian Crime Victim Foundation and the Five with DRIVE Foundation organized the tour.
