Calls to cancel Canada Day celebrations grow as Indigenous communities grieve mass grave discoveries
As Canada Day approaches, there are growing calls to cancel celebrations following the discovery of multiple mass graves containing the remains of residential school victims.
Already, there are plans for marches across the country and flags will be flown at half mast.
“It really resonates with Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, about all these children that were found buried in these mass graves,” said Nakuset, director of the Native Women's Shelter of Montreal and organizer of the city's march. “It was hidden and supposed to be kept secret. I think it almost comes in waves where you hear about what happened in Kamloops. You're devastated and you grieve and start to move forward and then it's the next wave.”
The Montreal march will start at Jeanne-Mance Park at 2 p.m. and already, thousands have announced their intention to attend. The path will lead to Place du Canada, where until recently a statue of Sir John A. Macdonald stood. The likeness of Macdonald, Canada's first prime minister and an architect of the residential school system that saw Indigenous children stolen away from their families, was toppled by protesters in August.
On Friday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada Day this year should be a day of reflection, rather than fireworks. But on Tourism Montreal's website, fireworks in the Old Port are still on the agenda for July 1.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Signs of Alzheimer’s were everywhere. Then his brain improved
Blood biomarkers of telltale signs of early Alzheimer’s disease in the brain of his patient, 55-year-old entrepreneur Simon Nicholls, had all but disappeared in a mere 14 months.
Flammable kids' sleepwear, salmonella-contaminated chips: Here are the recalls of this week
Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency issued recalls for various items this week, including kids' bassinets, chips, and stoves. Here's what to watch out for.
Lyon-bound Air Canada Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner from Montreal turns back midflight due to pressurization alert
Passengers heading from Montreal to Lyon, France on Friday were forced to return home and depart the next day after a pressurization indication was detected in flight.
U.S. ambassador 'not aware' of any plans for Trudeau-Trump meeting
Canada's Ambassador to the United States says she's 'not aware' of any plans for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to meet with former U.S. president and presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump before the November American election.
Sentencing trial set to begin for Florida man who executed 5 women at a bank in 2019
Zephen Xaver walked into a central Florida bank in 2019, fatally shot five women and then called police to tell them what he did. Now 12 jurors will decide whether the 27-year-old former prison guard trainee is sentenced to death or life without parole.
'How do you get hypothermia in a prison?' Records show hospitalizations among Virginia inmates
The Virginia State Police investigator seemed puzzled about what the inmate was describing: "unbearable" conditions at a prison so cold that toilet water would freeze over and inmates were repeatedly treated for hypothermia.
The secret Italian lakes that most tourists don't know about
Italy has dozens of secret smaller lakes that boast superb scenery, unknown to mass tourism, where locals get together on day trips and enjoy picnics.
What we've learned so far in the Trump hush money trial and what to watch for as it wraps up
Testimony in the hush money trial of Donald Trump is set to conclude in the coming days, putting the landmark case on track for jury deliberations that will determine whether it ends in a mistrial, an acquittal — or the first-ever felony conviction of a former American president.
Canadian immigration asks medical worker fleeing Gaza if he treated Hamas fighters
Lawyers are questioning Canada’s approach to screening visa applications for people in Gaza with extended family in Canada after one applicant, a medical worker, was asked whether he had treated members of Hamas.