All language subtitles for Village.Of.The.Missing.2019.1080p.WEBRip.x264.AAC-[YTS.MX]

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We have questions not only
about why these lives were lost,

but about the LGBTQ
community's relationship

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of trust
with the city in general.

How is it that they
were able to go missing?

Because they were
Middle Eastern or South Asian,

we kind of said, hmm,
maybe they had their own

reasons for disappearing.

Are they linked?
Is there something more to this?

Why are these brown men
going missing?

I often ask myself why.

It's not just a matter
of us sitting back and saying,

well, we hope the police
figure everything out.

The evidence today tells us that
there is not a serial killer

based on the evidence
that's involved.

A lot of times what we see
is that serial killers are able

to get away
with killing repeatedly

because the people that they
target are marginalized

in some way, shape or form.

They're much more likely
to slip through the cracks.

Andrew Kinsman has been
missing for 10 days now,

and tonight, Toronto police
say they cannot rule out

or nor can they rule in
the possibility

that his disappearance
may be linked

to three unsolved mysteries,

three men who disappeared
from the gay village

and have never been found.

It's known as The Village,
and for decades,

this neighborhood
has been the heart

of Toronto's LGBTQ community.

But after a series
of unsolved deaths

and suspicious disappearances,
it's now a crime scene.

I'll start
from the beginning.

Back in September of 2010,

the first person went missing,
a 40-year-old man

who was at a bar in the Church
and Wellesley Street area.

He left with an unknown man,

but what the investigation
51 division did,

they looked at other
similarities of other cases.

So they came up
with two other missing men.

They frequented the Church

and Wellesley Street area
as well.

Police announced their
fears that the disappearances

of those three men
were suspicious and connected.

They created a task force
and dubbed it Project Houston,

but the men have
never been found.

The obvious question
with the disappearance

now of another middle-aged man
from The Village,

could Andrew Kinsman's case
be connected.

Dating back to 2010, 2012,

there was preconceptions
that hindered investigations

into missing cases
around gay men.

If a man goes missing,
the assumption is,

well, he's left
of his own accord

because men have agency
and men make decisions

and they decide to go missing.

Whereas if it was a woman,
it would be suspicious

and would be automatically
considered something abnormal

because, you know, women
don't just decide to go missing.

We noticed that people
fit a certain profile.

They were men of color,
largely new Canadians,

or at least what we perceived
to be new Canadians.

The discussion was,
are they linked?

Is there something more to this?

Why are these brown men
going missing?

It there --- or are they
connected in any way?

So there was a lot of questions,
but very few answers.

They sat there and reviewed
old missing persons cases

to find linkages,
and they found linkages.

They -- they linked three cases
that were incredibly similar,

both in terms of age,
sexuality, ethnicity,

bars frequented.

In some cases
and one particular case,

it was even personal
connections.

They all had a connection
to a guy named Bruce McArthur

that led them to interview
Bruce McArthur.

I remember in 2013,
I was out on the street

reporting on this issue
and talking to people,

and police
were doing the same.

From where I was standing,
they were doing their job,

but now we hear that people
were dismissed.

In some cases, I've heard that
they were even mocked

because of their suspicions
of a serial killer.

And it is really in keeping
with a relationship

that the queer community
has had with -- with the police.

I've been living in Toronto,
the gay area in Toronto.

The gay are being near
Church and Wellesley

for about 48 years now,
and it's changed enormously.

I mean, it wasn't The Village
back in the '70s

where the gay areas
were over along Young Street

between Carlton and Wellesley.

The gay life in the '70s
is very different than today.

It was a very secret world.

It was kind of a, well,

in some ways
it was a gay fantasy land.

I mean, there were
all these secret.

It part like being
part of a cult, you know?

You wanted to meet men,
there were clubs.

The police were very...

It wasn't a priority for them
to go after homosexuals,

but when they did,
they were quite nasty

because they -- they considered
homosexuals criminals.

A friend of mine,
George Hyslop, at the time,

tried to talk
to the police in the

'70s, 60s about having liaison
with the gay community.

And they said, "Liaison?

Why would we want liaison

with a criminal group,
you know?

Homosexuals are criminals.

Why would we want liaison
with criminals?"

That was the mindset

of a lot of people,
for whatever reason,

still hold
those negative beliefs

about certain marginalized
people.

I worked homicide for eight
and a half years, ran homicide,

and I can tell you there is
no diminishment of investigation

due to type of lifestyle
or individual.

Every single case
was aggressively investigated

with as much passion
and as much, uh, vigor

necessary to solve the case.

What led you to conclude that
there might be a serial killer

behind the disappearance
of these men?

So, one case by itself
might not be a big red flag.

When you have three cases
in the span of less

than two years of three guys
who share so many similarities,

who are tied to one relatively
small geographic area,

it's so incredibly unlikely
that they would just disappear.

A lot of times what we see
is that serial killers are able

to get away
with killing repeatedly

because the people that they
target are marginalized

in some way, shape or form.

They're much more likely
to slip through the cracks.

They target certain populations
that they know

are not going to elicit
a lot of public attention,

whether from the news,

whether from community members
or even the police.

There is no evidence
at this point in time

which in any way establishes
the disappearances

of Selim Esen and Andrew Kinsman

are linked to
the disappearance of the males

from the Project Houston
investigation.

The evidence today tells us that
there is not a serial killer

based on the evidence
that's involved.

One more question.

I remember reading and hearing
about men going missing

and police investigations with
different names and so forth,

and you can't look in detail

at every single file
that's going on in the city,

but you assume that the system
is working as it should,

that everything
is being investigated

that possibly can be, that that
maximum effort is being made.

And it is only later, sometimes
with the benefit of hindsight

admittedly, that you realize
that, you know,

things were not as
they should have been.

This morning,
at approximately 10:25 A.M.,

police arrested 66-year-old

Bruce McArthur
of the city of Toronto.

He is self-employed
as a landscaper,

and he lives
in the Thorncliffe Park area.

He has been charged with two
counts of first-degree murder

in relation
to Mr. Kinsman and Mr. Esen.

And we believe
he is responsible for the deaths

of other men who have yet
to be identified.

In other words, we believe
there are other victims.

It'd be hard to define
a more gruesome way

to dispose of someone
after you've killed them.

It's one thing to kill them.

It's quite another
to dismember them,

and it's quite another
to really, quite callously,

put those remains
into planters

on properties of different
people around the city.

They say the investigation
still centers on this home

here on Mallory Crescent,

as well as the Thorncliffe Park
apartment.

But here they've been
seizing planters

containing human remains.

And yesterday, police charged
Bruce McArthur

with three more counts
of first-degree murder.

And we believe there are more
victims on top of those five,

and as we identify
those victims, I --

I can't give you any idea
about a number,

but I do expect
more charges to be laid.

When I heard that
Bruce McArthur would volunteer

as Santa Claus
during the holidays,

you know, it immediately
reminded me of John Wayne Gacy,

who was a clown
at children's birthday parties.

And, you know, a lot of times
serial killers will don a mask

that is so far removed from
the secret and dark fantasy life

that they have because they get
a thrill out of tricking people.

As you know,
on January the 18th,

Bruce McArthur was arrested.

He has been charged with six
counts of first-degree murder.

One of the focuses
of the investigation

has been on human remains

found within planters
from Mallory Crescent.

I can now add that
the pathologists have identified

the remains of Selim Esen,
Dean Lisowick

and Abdulbasir Faizi.

Detective Sergeant,
having worked on

Project Houston and today
for the first time

saying that all three
of the people

who were being investigated
are dead and allegedly murdered

by Bruce McArthur,
do you do see the closure

of Houston is a problem?

I mean, is there something
you regret and something perhaps

you might apologize
to the gay community

for just letting it go?

I know it wasn't just you,

but it was just let go
in April of 2014,

and nothing much was done
form that period until August --

July of 17.

All I can say about Houston,

it was an exhaustive
investigation,

and the occurrences were
never closed in April of 2014.

It just merely got to a point
where there was nothing,

nothing left that
the investigators could do.

Hindsight is always 20/20.

You can always go back
and look at things

that you did do or didn't do.

All I can say is that
I was familiar with Houston.

I've looked back
at those occurrences now,

and I'm quite --
quite content of the job

that was done by 51 division
in those days.

- Detective Sergeant?
- The cold cases...

James Dubro, you
came here as an activist, right?

Yes, as an activist.

I'm an elder
in the community now, almost 72.

So, how do you feel
about the fact

that Faizi, from Project Houston
has finally --

that -- that McArthur's been
charged with his murder?

I think that since August,
since July and August,

the police have done
an incredible job

in investigating McArthur
and identifying the victims

and identifying the remains,
charging him with murder.

I mean, they've done
an awful lot in eight months,

so we must never
forget that.

As bad as it was for seven
and a half years,

the last seven or eight months
they made up for it.

I had a bookstore
for several years,

and a lot of the bookstore

ended up with me.

Back in the '70s,

'71 to the late '80s, mid '80s,
we had a gay publication,

a very serious gay publication
called the Body Politic.

Okay, back in '79, a very good
writer at the Body Politic,

and it says here he's likely
to be a repressed homosexual.

This is the unsolved murders.

"The killer's likely
to be repressed

homosexual rather
than homophobic

and violent straight man.

The killers of these gay men
may just -- may themselves

have a predisposition
to homosexuality.

However, they've been trained
to hate homosexuality.

In destroying someone
they've gone home with,

that they kill
that part of themselves.

They are filled
with self-hatred."

Now, that is the psychiatrist

writing about these unsolved
murders in the '70s,

and that applies
to McArthur, too.

He is obviously a --
obviously homosexual

enjoying sex with men,
but obviously trying

to kill
that part of himself.

I was intrigued
by all these murders

and watching it carefully,
but again,

because they were Middle Eastern
or South Asian,

like a lot of the police

and a lot of the mainstream
gay men,

gay white men,
we're privileged, of course,

we kind of said, hmm,
maybe they had their own

reasons for disappearing.

In my experience
as a brown gay man,

you know, in Toronto,
is that you seek out people

who are not going
to do you harm.

And they saw Bruce
as that safety person,

And I think Bruce himself
probably looked for people

who were vulnerable
in some way, shape or form.

You know,
he may have had questions

of what's your status in Canada

or does your family know
that you're gay?

Those kinds of questions
that happen online all the time.

Today, Mr. McArthur was
brought back before the courts.

Bruce McArthur is now charged
with and alleged

to have committed
eight murders.

How is it that these people
were able to be amongst us

in our lives, in these bars,

in these coffee shops,
friends of ours,

all this, and were able
to vanish without us,

you know,
really doing enough?

and, you know, some degree
you can never do enough.

But how is it that
they were able to go missing

and we were not able to keep up
that pressure long enough

to make sure something happened?

That is a self-reflection.

The other half of that has to be
how is it the institutions

that are supposed to protect us

failed so utterly
and completely?

If there had been a dedicated
missing persons unit,

it may have connected those two
missing persons cases in 2010.

"It is saddening
and unacceptable

that it took the disappearance
of Andrew Kinsman

to potentially link
the cases of the missing

South Asian
and Middle Eastern men.

We call on the Toronto police
and city of Toronto

to commit to
the following actions.

Given the circumstances,
we must seriously consider

whether the inadequacy
of the initial investigations

was because of racism
and/or homophobia.

The Toronto
Police Services Board

must commission an external
review by a third party.

The findings of
the external review

must be publicly released."

We put out that letter
in January 28th,

and from that we had meetings
with the Mayor,

and the Mayor
was on board.

And we engage them
in conversation.

I'm hoping that the Mayor
and the

and the Toronto Police Services
are open to that,

and --- and our indications
have been that they are,

and especially
if they've given us some voice

and they're hearing
what we're saying.

But the key really will be
going forward once we learn

what we did and figure out
what we didn't do,

what we could have done,
how we might have treated things

and people differently in order
to make sure

that it never happens again.

It's my honor and pleasure
to welcome forward

one of the stalwart advocates
who has been speaking out

about what's been happening
in our LGBTQ community

and the diversity
of our community.

Haran Vijayanathan
is also the grand marshal

for this year's Pride Parade.

So, Haran, come on up.

Some of us here knew the men
intimately and some of us know

the men through
the stories we hear

on the news and from others.

Some had identified
as openly as gay,

and some we did not know
their sexual orientation.

And we have to recognize
that there's a lot of refugees

in this country
and undocumented workers

who are fleeing persecution
for who they are,

who come to this city
and into this country together.

And we will get the system
to recognize the injustices

throughout this entire thing and
we will make that change happen.

Thank you again.

And even within
the LGBTQ community,

when those posters went up
and people

were talking about the men
that went missing,

they were basically
saying things like,

well, they might have
been deported

or they went, probably,
went back to their families

to live their lives
and stuff like that.

And so this is an opportunity,
again, unfortunately,

under these occasions
that we can actually challenge

homophobia within
our communities as well.

There are so many
layers or onion skins

that we have to peel back
of racism, homophobia.

And when I say racism,
I mean not just within society,

but also within
the LGBTQ communities, right?

Because that exists too,
and it's sometimes not given

the attention that it deserves.

You know, could this be
a situation where somebody

is actually targeting
or hunting gay men of color

because they're not fully out?

That's a reality
that gay asylum seekers

and LGBT people who are refugees
in places like Canada.

That's the reality
that they live.

And so that leads them
to a very precarious situation

where they become targets
or they could become targets

because of this
this identity situation.

I don't think people
have any idea

how the rest of the world,
not in all places,

but in many places,
still have laws

that are incredibly hostile
to LGBTQ people

and that they face
terrible consequences,

legal and social
and other consequences,

and that Canada,

for many of them
is a is a beacon of hope.

When I've heard about
Bruce McArthur case,

it was shocking,
but I have a different

perspective from the rest of,
you know,

Canadian LGBT community.

I left Iran in 2005 and I came
to Canada as a refugee in 2006.

So, you know, when we were
talking about vulnerable cases,

a lot of people
doesn't understand

or doesn't get how

or what which level
are we talking about.

It is about life and death.

Something that all
Middle Eastern LGBT share,

we share a lot of bad memories
of rape, assault,

and things became normal for us.

That it's not rape
for us anymore.

It's just rape.

It's not the rape.

Bruce McArthur story made me
think more about,

you know, what we can do
to help these LGBT refugees

because they're living
in the deep fear back,

you know, in their countries,
in the family,

and then they can escape their
country of origin to Turkey

as a bridge to come
to a safe country like Canada.

And I think it is
our responsibility

or my responsibility

to make them prepare about,
you know,

and make them ready
to start their new life

and a better life here.

Today, I'm going to meet
a lot of Iranian

and Afghan LGBT refugees,
and we cannot show their faces

because they have
an understandable fear

of being outed to their family.

A lot of them are not out
to their family.

That they were, you know,
they told their parents

that they are going
to go to school,

they're going to to get a visa.

Some of them, they don't even
know that they are in Turkey,

so they told their parents
that they are

in Germany or other countries.

And still, some of the former
refugees who came to Canada

are not out with their family
because they cannot tell them.

So, let's speak English.

How many days you will go
to Canada? In three days?

In three days, you know?

So your English is good,
so you told me that

you have a stressed
about your English.

Yeah. You know, because during
my living in Turkey,

I never, ever speak
English to anybody.

But for someone who believes
in Iran and in Turkey,

speaking English like you,
it's -- it's like

level four or five.

So it's great.

So, you're going to Canada
after how many days or month?

After four years
and one month.

Did you already come...?Yeah, yeah.

About the second minute.

Two million, 149,920 minutes
living in Turkey.

Yeah.

Four years
- is much shorter.
- Yeah.

I have lots of stories,
you know.

It's exactly like
when I come from,

came from
Iran to Turkey.

I have lots of stories

because I don't know
what's happening in the future.

You know, Arsham,
this is my diary book...

Scrap book....during my four years

living in Turkey.

Your bus ticket,

You have my picture as well.

"Life is full of moments.

Live every moment."

A lot of Canadians
or American thinks,

"Oh, they are in Turkey,
they're safe."

No.
But it's not safe.

- Yeah.
- And anything might happen

in Canada as well.

Have you heard about the gay
serial killers?

Yeah, in Canada,
- in Toronto?
- Yeah, in Toronto.

Sometimes people even, you know,
they can come to Canada

in order to have
a peaceful and perfect life.

Those guys who were killed
by that, you know, individual,

they didn't know
that they're coming to Canada

- and they are being killed.
- Yeah.

It's much better than Turkey.
It's much better than Iran.

Life has its own challenges,
but, you know,

you have an opportunity to --
to build your life.

For 30 years, I live in Iran,
and I have to every day,

I say, lie to everybody
from my parents,

my close friends, my colleagues,
every -- everyone, you know?

Do you have to lie
in order to survive?

Every -- every morning
you have to put up

a kind of mask
your -- your face.

Overstated.
Yeah, yeah.

But taking off the mask
is another challenge.

I know that it is scary.

Very, very difficult.

Last year, one of our refugees,
you know, came to Vancouver

after 13 months
of waiting time ingenuously.

And six months later, he jumped
from a bridge in Vancouver.

And I don't know why.

I often ask myself why.

Imagine that you have to live
in a country or in a city

that you don't know
the language, their culture

for 49 months.

It makes you insane.
It makes you psycho.

And I told you that when I'm
coming to Turkey, I can't sleep.

Because I don't want,
if something happens,

I don't want to blame myself
that if you didn't escape,

if you spent one hour
to talk to that person,

you can change their life.

After he committed suicide,
someone sent me a message

that where have you been
when he needed you?

Like, I was here when you.
Where were you?

I cannot take it, you know?

I cannot take care of everyone.

I need more people
to take care of them.

Bruce McArthur
currently stands charged

before the courts
for eight counts

of first-degree murder.

Remains of seven
of the eight victims

were previously located
at the rear of

53 Mallory Crescent behind me.

Yesterday, the Toronto
Police Service commenced

excavation of the ravine.

We are prioritizing areas
which give us the strongest

indications by canine units.

Yesterday afternoon,
human remains were located

at one of the first
digging sites.

These remains have been brought
to Ontario Forensic

Pathology Services
for further examination.

The excavation continues,
and we anticipate being here

for, well,
at least until next week.

Hi, you have reached
the office of the chief coroner

of the Toronto region.

We're sorry that we missed
your call.

Oh, hello.

This is Haran Vijayanathan,

the executive director
of the Alliance

for South Asian AIDS Prevention.

We had registered
the organization

to reclaim the remains
of the individuals

from the Bruce McArthur case.

For anyone who is not claimed,
we would certainly claim them.

But we also have...

My hope and the agency's hope
is that a systems change

comes out of this,
that we actually truly use this

as a -- as an example
of we are not immune

to all of the world's problems.

It can happen right here
in this country as well

and in this very city,
and systems need to change

to accommodate
and account for that

And how do we
hold people accountable,

how we all hold systems
accountable.

How you are, James?
- How's it going.

You're well?
What?

You're well?
Oh, yeah.

Well, well, you know,
for 72.

Just getting up
in the morning is good, right?

How's everything going
with that committee?

We wanted to make sure
that all

the missing persons
aspects get recognized.

Right. That's -- that's the
important thing of all this.

The key question
then is,

if you want to avoid Bruce,

why did they stop
the investigation in April of 14

and not do anything
until August?

That's -- and that's
- what we're getting at.
- That's important

We wanted to make sure
Houston was in there.

Yeah.
And...

I've been saying that
for about a year, you know>

And I should have been
saying it earlier.

This is an important event
that happens each year

in the life
of our wonderful city,

but this year it carries
a special poignancy

as we have all just stood here
together to acknowledge

and remember of the missing
and lost individuals

within the Church,
Wellesley community.

We have questions not only about
why these lives were lost,

but about the LGBTQ
community's relationship

of trust with
the city in general.

But we can bring about change.

In fact, people who came
before me and before us

that are here today
fought hard for that change.

And we and those of us here
today and others who can't be

will continue
to do that together.

I still believe
that our systems that govern

and protect us are still flawed,

and it takes a system change
for there ever to be justice.

This was very apparent
when the news of eight men

whose lives were taken by one of
our own right in our community.

The murdered men,
Skandaraj Navaratnam,

Abdulbasir Faizi,
Majeed Kayhan,

Soroush Mahmudi, Dean Lisowick,
Kirushna Kumar Kanagaratnam,

Selim Esen and Andrew Kinsman.

- I was really, really good.
- Thank you. Thank you so much.

I just want to congratulate you.

Thank you.
Thank you.

I just want to say
thank you so much

for everything
that you've done with us,

supporting the mission persons unit.

I'm looking forward
to seeing you

at the head of the parade
on Sunday.

- Good luck on Sunday.
- Thank you so much.

We're going
to be behind you.

Oh, amazing. Good.

I went from a nobody
and nobody knew me

except for the people
that worked with me and --

and the community and my family,
and all of a sudden now,

I'm being recognized
all over the place

and being asked to speak
at different things

and going from, you know,
the back of the parade

in a corner somewhere
to watch the parade

to now leading the parade.

You never think a little boy,
a little brown boy from Winnipeg

would -- would do this,

and a brown gay boy
from Winnipeg would do this.

- Right here.
- Thank you so much for coming.

It's a little insane. We're
trying to set up our float.

As you can see,
it's not the greatest looking

thing in the world to be
at the front of the parade,

but it is what it is.

And going from the back

of the parade
in the corner somewhere,

to now at the front
of the parade, openly proud

and -- and having my mom
and my sister come along,

I think that's really --
really an achievement.

So, this is my mom, Raj,

and this is my youngest sister,
Shigani.

You know,
having both of them here,

they were my strongest supports

when I first came out.

And my sisters, I think,
already knew.

They were just waiting
for me to confirm.

I think my mom knew as well,
so when I came out,

I wrote the letters and stuff
and left it in the mailbox,

and -- and they've been
very supportive.

So it's really nice
to have them here

on my 40th year
of being in this world

and then being the grand marshal
of the parade

and then having my family
with me,

who are my greatest supports.

Our parents never talk
or anything like this about it,

and we don't go out --
we don't know anything.

It's -- and he put the letter
in the mailbox.

I don't know what this means.

What did the letter say?

That he's a gay.

I was shocked inside,
but I don't want

to say anything.

He's my only son.
That's all I thought.

I think if it happened
in Sri Lanka

or even with my dad around,
he probably would be dead.

Him?

Like, my dad would have
definitely

done something to him.

If not,
people would have --

I feel people would have found
a way to get at him

and get him, like, kill him,
because for some reason

they feel like it's --
it's a sin or it's wrong.

I'm not sure why.

- Happy Pride!
- Happy Pride!

This is our first
Pride together.

Alright.
This is our first
Pride together.

Okay, so there you go.
Okay.

Amazing.
Thank you, guys.

When I look back in January,

the intention
of the letter writing

was not for a spotlight
to be on me or the agency.

The intention was for me
to put to the board

to say that this agency
who serves South Asia

and Middle Eastern communities
to take a stance on this issue,

because if we don't do it,
no one will.

My name is Sam Masemi.

I'm a political refugee
from Iran.

We are here to support the LGBT
rights all over the world,

including Islamic countries.

It's not a matter
of attacking a religion.

It's a matter of radicalism

and how LGBT are treated
in Islamic countries,

and nobody in the liberal left
in the media

is talking about it,
and these are our friends.

These are our relatives that are
being killed and persecuted

in those countries,
and nobody --

if you talk about it here,
they say you're Islamophobic.

No, everybody in my family
is a Muslim.

I can't be Islamophobic,
but I know radicalism,

and nobody
is taking a stance

as if it's not
anybody's business.

Why?

How does that make you feel?

We're never, ever going to stop
people from doing things,

but what we can do
is put systems in place

and ensure that there's
a safe way for community

to access those things, right?

And people don't have
to wait eight years

to find their loved ones,

and we don't have to wait
for a particular person

in a particular community

to go missing for them
to be taken seriously.

I always said that,
you know, I was born in Iran.

I didn't have any choice,

and when I went to Canada,
it was my second birthday.

I was born again,
but I had rights.

I knew who I am.
I knew what I can do.

And indeed,
it is a second birthday.

Happy birthday,
and you're going to have

birthdays in the future as well.

And he said, I'm so happy
that Peyman is leaving,

and it's very tough that --
You know, I'm 35.

It's very -- I've been starting
from scratch many, many times.

I hope that I go somewhere
that I don't need to start

from scratch one more time.

And he said
that we all had family.

We didn't have choice
to choose our family members,

but he had the privilege to
choose the new family members.

For each of the people
that there are in this room,

some of the pieces
going to Canada.

And he hopes that one day
all these pieces joined together

and become one.

- How you doing?
- Hey, how are you?

- Good, how are you?
- How are you?

- Good.
- We finally get to meet
in person. Haran.

Haran.
Nice to meet you.

You, too.

Thank you again for connecting
us with the families.

- How's that working?
- It's actually working
really good.

I'm in touch
with a few of them...

Yeah.
...and the others
are kind of in,

so we'll keep trying
that until we get there.

Yeah. I had a good chance
this week

with one
of the family members.

It was very enlightening.

Good stuff.

As you know,
on January 18, 2018,

Bruce McArthur was arrested.

He has been charged with eight
counts of first-degree murder.

Although the examination
and identification

of remains continues,

we do not have any evidence
to suggest

that Mr. McArthur
is responsible

for anything more
than the eight murders

to which he currently
stands charged.

At this time,
we have no evidence to suggest

that there are
any further remains

to be located
at any further locations.

The review of
numerous cold cases

and outstanding missing
persons cases continues.

Mr. Hank, take care.

How do you feel about
today's announcement

that seems to be
kind of closing the circle?

It's a sad state of affairs.

However,
there's at least some closure,

and as we go in through the
whole review process and stuff,

I think more answers
will come out.

Why is it so important
for you to be here

and almost lend a voice
to the victims

who can no longer speak.

It's important for me to be here
because we were outspoken

right from the get go
in January,

and it's important for us to
follow through on that process

and be present and continue

so that it doesn't feel like
we started something

and we just dropped the ball.

We have to find ways
to make sure

that community members
and police

are always able
to communicate,

that there's open lines
of communication,

that there's mutual respect.

That's something
that always kind of comes out

in the aftermath
of a serial homicide case

that somewhere along the line,

the lines of communication
between a vulnerable community

and the police have maybe
not broken down totally,

but that there are ways

to improve
those lines of communication.

I had a deep sense
of sorrow for what these men

probably went through
in their final hours.

To me, it's just the most
disgusting manipulation

you could possibly imagine.

You know, like finding somebody
who's out-ish

and then exploiting that,
using the trust of a newcomer,

which is pure and genuine
in many cases.

They just have come here
hoping for a new life,

hoping for finally
to have a chance

to be gay without persecution.

You know, like we just
thought, that didn't happen here

because we were accepting.

And I guess, you know,
we obviously have learned

some lessons from all of this,
in terms of how

we deal with missing people,
and those lessons

are in the process
of being learned.

I think in a city
as dynamic as this,

in a city as diverse as this,
you can never stop and say,

you know, we've got this all
licked, it's all done.

We've read all of our own
press clippings,

and we've concluded this
is the greatest city

in the world in which to live.

It is the greatest city
in the world in which to live.

But if you stop and rest
on your laurels in that regard,

you were going to leave

outstanding issues
that do exist,

especially as it effects various
marginalized groups of people.

We all look for reasons
they might have disappeared,

vanished, because they all
vanished without a trace.

You know, they left their cats,
dogs, their car, their wives.

In some cases, they vanished
without a trace.

And yet the police and even
some of us in the gay community

who aren't marginalized,
particularly,

maybe they arrange
their own disappearance.

That was kind of
a rationalization for a while.

At the end of all of this,
I think the committee has had

and is having a reckoning
with itself, right?

You know, how was it that
these men were able to come here

and disappear
without us really noticing

or raising the alarm
or really freaking out,

for lack of a better word?

Because, you know, for all our
finger pointing at police,

both from the media perspective,
the community perspective,

you name it,
there has to be, you know,

some fingers pointing back,
right.

Because, you know,
we can say you didn't

put these pieces together,
you didn't connect the dots,

but at the same time,
we didn't follow up.

We didn't keep on
some of these cases.

It's not just a matter of us
sitting back and saying,

well, we hope the police
figure everything out.

You know, we recognize
that's not always possible,

and police aren't perfect.

Systems aren't imperfect.
Investigators aren't imperfect.

I think that's a disservice
to say here are the two things,

three things, four things.
It's a thousand things.

We never decided
to be who we are.

It's was -- it wasn't
a choice for us.

We didn't decide to be,
you know,

a member of the LGBT community.
This is who we are.

And right now we are here.

We didn't want to be here,
but this is the reality.

We had to leave our country.
We are here.

There's a lot of challenges,
and my expectation

is that people see us
and understand us

and give us a lot --
a little bit of an opportunity

and room to -- to be who we are.

We have to be optimistic.

There are a lot of times
that we were in motion,

you know,
about our sad part of our life,

but it doesn't mean
that I have to give up.

That when they come to Canada,
that hope doesn't break.

That, oh, if Canada
is like another Iran.

It doesn't matter that
you're being killed by broods

or being executed
by Iranian regime.

We need somewhere to go,
because, you know,

yes, we have a home
that our parents live.

But, you know, we need a place
to call it home

and they feel safe.