The Native Women’s Resource Centre of Toronto (NWRCT) is hoping to compel Canadians to do more for Indigenous women, and it’s using a massive newspaper to do it.

“4,000 Cover Stories” is a campaign based around a giant newspaper comprised only of front-page stories about the missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls who did not get the news coverage they deserved since 1980. In addition to educating the public, the newspaper is aimed squarely at those who occupy the corridors of power: it was unveiled at a newsstand set up at Toronto’s Queen’s Park, with another copy delivered to the Prime Minister’s residence, 24 Sussex Drive, on the National Day of Action for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

Also displayed at Queen’s Park are 300 large-scale “Missing” posters, highlighting the stories of Indigenous women, and offering up an additional call to action for Canadians. Visitors to the “4000 Cover Stories” newsstand in Toronto can demand action by scanning the QR codes on the “covers” to email MPs representing ridings where missing and murdered women resided.

“The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls estimates that we’ve lost 4,000 Indigenous women due to violence, but we know that number underestimates our loss by a magnitude,” says NWRCT’s executive director, Pamela Hart. “Every one of those women deserves a front-page story.”

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The project was led by creative agency Forsman & Bodenfors, which began working with NWRCT last year.

Glen D’Souza, head of creative at Forsman & Bodenfors Canada, tells strategy print is an iconic, simple way to get the devastating message across and that it’s using the medium in a way that’s provocative and will breakthrough.

“The combination of [print], with QR, makes for a nice juxtaposition,” D’Souza explains, adding that PHD was able to source free media in the form of DOOH boards. With the accompanying video, Forsman & Bodenfors is pushing it out concerned Canadians on Facebook and Twitter, to try to get the message out that way.

The agency is currently tracking results now, and D’Souza says there were lots of vigil attendees interested and taking photos on Oct. 4, and it really touched a lot of people in the community.

The newspaper and posters were also presented at the annual Sisters in Spirit Vigil at Allan Gardens in Toronto, which honours the lives and legacies of the victims and survivors, impacted by this tragic and on-going violence.

According to recent Native Women’s Association of Canada (NAW) insights, Indigenous women accounted for 24% of all female homicide victims in the country, despite making up a mere 5% of the female population.

Veritas assisted with media outreach/PR.