PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. – Liberal Status of Women Critic Anita Neville renewed calls today for a comprehensive, national investigation into the more than 520 missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls in Canada.

“Across this country Aboriginal women and girls have been disappearing, yet the Harper government has taken no action in response,” Ms. Neville said. “It’s time Stephen Harper stopped treating our First Nations people like second-class citizens.”

Ms. Neville is in Prince George today meeting with police, family and community members concerned about the many disappearances along the Highway of Tears in the interior of British Columbia.

The RCMP is currently investigating 18 cases along the Highway of Tears. Community members say there are many more cases that could be linked to those disappearances.

A report released last year by the Native Women’s Association of Canada found that a staggering 520 Aboriginal women and girls have been murdered or gone missing in Canada since 1970 – 223 since 2000 alone.

Of that number, 67 percent were tragically murdered, while a troubling 24 percent remain missing, according to the report. Fourteen percent of the missing girls and young women were under 18 years of age at the time of their disappearance.

“Women and girls continue to go missing, and still the Harper government ignores what is clearly a systemic problem,” said Ms. Neville.

“After meeting with communities and organizations across the country this week on Parliament Hill, it’s clearer than ever that something needs to be done. We need to find out why these women and girls are disappearing, why so many of these cases remain unsolved and find some solutions. It’s well past the time for the Harper Conservatives to act.”