On the 67th day of the Native women’s cross-country trek that started in Vancouver on June 21, organizer Gladys Radek told the Straight that more than 5,000 people have signed a petition calling for a public inquiry into Canada’s missing women.

“The response has been really awesome,” Radek said in a phone interview on August 26 from Orillia, Ontario, about 400 kilometres from the marchers’ destination, Ottawa.

Radek and 14 other marchers expect to enter Ottawa on September 12. They will hold a daylong rally on Parliament Hill on September 15 to demand an investigation into the disappearance of about 3,000 women across the country, many of whom are aboriginal.

One of those who have gone missing is Radek’s niece Tamara Chipman, who was 22 years old when she was last seen hitchhiking east of Prince Rupert in September 2005.

Radek, a member of the Wet’suwet’en Nation, said the walk has raised awareness of the issue. “Justice will be served,” she said.

Radek previously told the Straight that Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean has promised to walk with them to Parliament Hill.