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WINNIPEG — Two options of a new specialty licence plate to raise money for the families of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people are now available to purchase in Manitoba. 

Each plate costs $70, with $30 going to Ka Ni Kanichihk, a resource centre that offers programs to Indigenous communities. 

The funds are to help with education for students who have had a family member who was murdered or reported missing.

The plates are designed with a red dress or red hand print.

The now-governing New Democrats put forward a private member's bill last year to create the specialty plates, similar to ones that exist for groups including the Humane Society or for causes such as cancer research. 

Housing, Addictions and Homelessness Minister Bernadette Smith, whose sister Claudette Osborne-Tyo was reported missing in 2008, brought forward the bill.

She says it's important Manitobans recognize the reality Indigenous families face. 

The province says the Crown-owned Manitoba Public Insurance has commissioned 6,000 plates for purchase. 

The Canadian Press