The Issue

Six-year-old Darius MacDougall went missing on September 21  near Tent Mountain and Island Lake Campground, just minutes from the busy Crowsnest Highway and the B.C.–Alberta border — a region surrounded by dense forest and known smuggling corridors.

Despite extensive searches — dogs, helicopters, drones, and elite Search & Rescue teams from across Canada — no trace of him has been found.

Critically, no Amber Alert was ever issued — even as hours turned into days.

In Darius’s case, the absence of a confirmed abduction prevented an alert — even though he vanished in a high-risk, cross-border region with immediate access to major transportation routes frequently flagged for smuggling and human trafficking activity.

Under current Canadian law, police must confirm an abduction, identify a suspect or vehicle, and determine that the child is in imminent danger before an Amber Alert can be activated. If even one box remains  unchecked — even when a child disappears near a major highway, border, or trafficking route — the public remains in the dark during the most crucial hours.

Darius - like many other still missing children - didn’t meet Canada’s rigid Amber Alert criteria.

That gap costs time.

And time costs lives.

Why Change Is Needed

In Alberta, the disappearance of Parker Wells highlighted why this gap must be addressed. Parker, a neurodivergent and non-verbal child, shares many of the same vulnerabilities as Darius. His last known movements brought him closer toward the Highway 2 corridor — a major Alberta transportation route that has been identified by law enforcement and anti-trafficking organizations as part of a broader network of routes exploited by human trafficking operations. These corridors provide traffickers the ability to rapidly move vulnerable individuals across communities and jurisdictions, making time-critical public alerts essential. The Government of Alberta’s decision to grant a legislative exemption to allow an emergency alert in Parker's case demonstrates that even the province recognizes there are circumstances where the current Amber Alert criteria are too rigid and police need the ability to act. However, a one-time exemption is not enough. Families and law enforcement should not have to rely on extraordinary measures or political intervention during a crisis. Canada needs legislative reform that permanently gives police the discretion to issue emergency alerts when credible risk factors exist — including a child’s vulnerability, proximity to high-risk transportation corridors, and circumstances indicating an immediate threat to their safety.

In Nova Scotia, the disappearance of Lilly and Jack Sullivan raised similar concerns. The siblings were last seen near Gairloch Road in Lansdowne Station, Pictou County, in proximity to the Highway 104 corridor. Highway 104 is a major transportation artery in Nova Scotia and has been identified as part of broader human trafficking networks due to its role connecting communities and facilitating rapid movement across the province and beyond. When a child disappears near established transportation corridors associated with trafficking risks, those geographic factors must be considered.

The disappearance of Dylan Ehler in Truro, Nova Scotia, further exposed the limitations of Canada’s current system. Truro is located directly along the Highway 104 corridor, a major transportation route and recognized human trafficking hub. Despite Dylan’s disappearance involving a very young child and occurring in proximity to a major transportation network, an Amber Alert was not issued because authorities could not confirm that an abduction had occurred.

These cases demonstrate why geography, vulnerability, and surrounding circumstances must be considered in emergency alert decisions. Highways are rapid transportation networks that can allow a child to be moved across municipal, provincial, and national boundaries before authorities have the ability to mobilize the public.

Canada’s current Amber Alert framework falls behind best practices already implemented in jurisdictions such as the United States and Mexico, where authorities can consider a broader range of risk factors when determining whether an emergency alert is warranted. Canada’s rigid criteria create gaps in protection for our most vulnerable populations, including missing and murdered Indigenous women and men (MMIWM), by limiting the ability of law enforcement to rapidly mobilize the public when warning signs of exploitation, trafficking, or imminent danger are present.

When a child is missing, minutes matter.

Other countries already empower police to issue alerts based on risk level, not rigid confirmation of proof an abduction. Thousands of children have been saved this way.  It’s time for our leaders to act, before more tragedies like this continue to happen.
 
What Darius’s Law Would Do

Darius’s Law would modernize Canada’s approach by creating a more responsive, risk-based alert system — one that recognizes vulnerability, geography, and credible threats as factors requiring immediate action.

This is not a call for more different  or more Amber Alerts — it’s a call for a targeted, risk-based system in line with best practices already used across North America.

This law must:

a. Empower police and RCMP to issue alerts in high-risk disappearances, including cases near highways, borders, or known trafficking routes.
b. Define “high-risk disappearance” to include factors such as age, weather, terrain, proximity to wilderness or cross-border zones, or credible threat indicators.
c. Create an independent Amber Alert Review Board to ensure transparency, oversight, and accountability across all provinces and territories.
d. Mobilize community expertise by integrating truckers, hunters, trappers, search-and-rescue teams, park rangers, Indigenous knowledge keepers, and local guides — those who know Canada’s land and roads best. Truckers, especially, are vital eyes along highway and border corridors.
e. Establish a national task force to harmonize criteria across provinces and enable alerts to cross borders seamlessly, closing jurisdictional gaps that traffickers exploit.

 
Who We Call On

We urge the following leaders to act with courage and compassion:

Danielle Smith, Premier of Alberta
David Eby, Premier of British Columbia
Gary Anandasangaree, Federal Minister of Public Safety
Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada

We also call on the RCMP and all provincial public-safety ministers to support this reform and to issue an Amber Alert for Darius MacDougall.

This is not about blame — it is about bravery and action.

 
Why Act Now

Our Police Force and Search & Rescue teams are doing everything they can — but they’re operating without their most powerful tool: the ability to alert the public instantly when a child is in danger.

When a disappearance occurs near a highway, border, or dense forest corridor, the danger is already real. Every passing minute increases the chance that the child crosses jurisdictions or disappears beyond reach.

An early alert reaches thousands within seconds. Phones buzz, highways light up, and communities mobilize. Those first moments can turn fear into action — and action into hope.

 
Call to Action

Every minute of silence is another minute of risk.
Darius’s Law isn’t just about one boy — it’s about every child who could vanish tomorrow, and every parent that shouldn't have to ask, “why an Amber Alert issued for my child?”

We call on parents, teachers, truckers, first responders, and citizens to demand this change.

Sign. Share. Speak up.
Let our leaders know that our children’s safety must never depend on bureaucracy or hesitation.

Because when a child disappears, there’s no second chance — only the moments we act on.

Every minute matters.