Canada Day Rally To Be Held In Residential School Death Scandal

With the recent discovery of a mass grave and unmarked graves at former residential schools a group in Moose Jaw is planning to hold a rally on Canada Day to remember those children who passed away, call for action as well as to show support for First Nations and Metis people affected by the tragedy.

At 12 noon on Canada Day, July 1st, the Standing in Integrity – Canada Day Rally will be hosted by Our Home on Native Land at 12:00 noon. The rally starts at 220 Main Street North, and the group will walk towards Athabasca Street.

Everyone is invited to attend the rally and if you can you are asked to wear an orange shirt.

Children’s shoes and teddy bears were placed on the front steps of St Andrews Church in late May after a mass grave of 215 children was discovered at a former residential school site at Kamloops, BC - MJ Independent file photo

As part of a show of support to the discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves found at a former residential school at Cowesses First Nation this past Monday City Council held a moment of silence.

“We want people to understand the truth of the past and will seek advice from Elders and the entire Indigenous Community to understand what further actions we can take as a City to work towards reconciliation,” Mayor Fraser Tolmie said in a statement issued to encourage people to attend the rally.

Residential schools were compulsory boarding schools run by the federal government and religious authorities during the 19th and 20th Centuries with the aim of forcibly assimilating indigenous youth by destroying their culture, languages and religious/spiritual beliefs.

The discovery of children’s graves at the schools has led to the call to cancel Canada Day celebrations with at least four communities in Saskatchewan doing so.