'It's overwhelming:' Residential school victims commemorated in Montreal march
Thousands of people marched through Montreal on Thursday, one of many such demonstrations across Canada in honour of the victims of the country's residential school system.
The marches come on Canada Day and in the wake of the recent discovery of numerous mass grave sites containing the remains of Indigenous children on the sites where some residential schools once stood. The remains of over 1,000 children were recently found in unmarked graves in British Columbia and Saskatchewan.
"I think it affects everyone when you hear about 751 children in a mass grave in Saskatchewan. It's overwhelming," said Native Women's Shelter of Montreal director Nakuset, who organized the Montreal march.
A woman is consoled during a gathering and march to honour Indigenous children, denounce genocide and demand justice for residential school victims in Montreal, Thursday, July 1, 2021.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
A woman is consoled during a gathering and march to honour Indigenous children, denounce genocide and demand justice for residential school victims in Montreal, Thursday, July 1, 2021.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
Over 100,000 Indigenous children were sent to residential schools before the last one closed in 1996. The schools were established as a way to strip Indigenous children of their cultures and languages and many who were sent there suffered physical, emotional, mental and sexual abuse.
As people, many dressed in orange, gathered at the park at the base of Mount Royal, songs were sung in those languages that were once forbidden.
In recent weeks, #CancelCanadaDay has trended on Twitter as Indigenous communities and advocates have called for annual celebrations to be replaced by a day of mourning and reflection.
"These mass graves happened all throughout Canada," said Nakuset. "I think it's devestating for us, but it's devestating to Canadians in general."
The march wound its way to Place du Canada, where a statue of Sir John A. Macdonald, Canada's first prime minister and an architect of the residential school system, stood until it was toppled by protesters last year.
"There were people who didn't understand us and wanted to eliminate us," said Kahnawake resident Ka'Nahsohon Deer. "Sorry to say that as long as the wind blows and the grass grows and the water flows, we will always be here."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
NEW Is there a cost to convenience? Canada approves new cancer immunotherapy treatment
A new cancer treatment recently approved in Canada promises to cut treatment time down to just minutes, but experts have differing opinions on whether it's what's best for patients.
King Charles III returns to public duties with a trip to a cancer charity
King Charles III will return to public duties on Tuesday when he visits a cancer treatment charity, beginning his carefully managed comeback after the monarch’s own cancer diagnosis sidelined him for three months.
Canada's new dental program offering hope of free care to millions but many dentists aren't signed up
A new Canadian dental care program is offering the hope of free care to millions, but while 1.7 million people have signed up for the plan, only about 5,000 dentists have done the same.
NDP says Ottawa's new grocery task force isn't living up to government promises
The federal government says the task force it created to monitor and investigate grocery retailers' practices has not conducted any probes and doesn't have a mandate to take enforcement action.
Archeologists search for remnants of Halifax's 250-year-old wall that surrounded the city
Archeologist Jonathan Fowler is using ground-penetrating radar to search for historic evidence of the massive wall that surrounded Halifax more than 250 years ago.
Air Canada walks back new seat selection policy change after backlash
Air Canada has paused a new seat selection fee for travellers booked on the lowest fares just days after implementing it.
Province boots mayor and council in small northern Ont. town out of office
An ongoing municipal strike, court battles and revolt by half of council has prompted the province to oust the mayor and council in Black River-Matheson.
Kazakhstan arrests ex-interior minister in connection with unrest that left 238 dead
Authorities in Kazakhstan arrested a former interior minister on Tuesday, in connection with deadly police crackdown on unrest that gripped the country in 2022, Kazakh news media reported.
Winner of US$1.3 billion Powerball jackpot is an immigrant from Laos who has cancer
One of the winners of a historic US$1.3 billion Powerball jackpot last month is an immigrant from Laos who has had cancer for eight years and had his latest chemotherapy treatment last week.