Manitoba licence plate for missing, murdered Indigenous women could be available by summer: justice minister

Manitoba Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen says a new licence plate could be in place by next summer to raise money for families of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

The Opposition New Democrats recently put forward a private member's bill to create a specialty licence plate, similar to ones that exist for groups such as the Humane Society or causes like cancer research.

Crown-owned Manitoba Public Insurance gives $30 from each specialty plate to a registered group.

The bill has not passed and the legislature is set to rise later this week, but Goertzen says a bill is not needed to create the plate.

Goertzen says he has spoken to Manitoba Public Insurance and asked that the corporation have the plate ready for sale by next summer.

He says there are some details to work out, though, including designating a group that will be responsible for the money raised.

"Clearly there will be some consultations, probably, around the design of the plate — as there should be," Goertzen said Monday.

"There's more work to be done in terms of who actually receives the funding [from] the plate."

New Democrat legislature member Bernadette Smith has said the money raised by the plates would ease the financial challenges facing relatives of the missing and murdered.

Smith's sister, Claudette Osborne, disappeared in 2008.