Canada Day is in jeopardy. No holiday?

What prompted this decision?

Indigenous people are asking all other Canadians to "put aside pride" and cancel the nationwide holiday in 2021. Minority representatives say they feel great sadness after investigations into unmarked graves at former boarding schools uncovered preliminary evidence of the remains of 215 more children in British Columbia and 751 in Saskatchewan.

Native Canadian Justine Deschenes (aka Algonquin Anishinabe) plans to participate in a march under the hashtag #CancelCanadaDay across the Ottawa River. In her opinion, the slogan does not detract from the message of unity of the nation and empowerment of Indigenous peoples in times of mourning, "I don't understand why #CancelCanadaDay is a bad thing. The whole country is built on genocide. I don't understand why it's celebrated every year," she said.

Cancel Canada Day

The hashtag #CancelCanadaDay was launched on Twitter in early June. It was triggered by the discovery of the remains of Native American children near a boarding school in Kamloops, British Columbia. This sad event was followed by another: a fatal attack on a Muslim family in the city of London, Ontario.

Throughout June, there has been an ongoing debate in the broader Canadian public on the question of whether Canada Day is really necessary! There has been a lot of talk online and in the media that this is not the time for patriotic chest-thumping. That it is time to speak out against the racism to which Indigenous peoples are subjected. And also against Islamophobia.

Sabrina Ghaffar-Siddiqui (Professor of Sociology and Criminology at Sheridan College in Toronto) in an interview The Toronto Star made this statement: "Canada Day should become a day of mourning, not celebration. I don't think we should abolish Canada Day entirely. But we shouldn't celebrate it the way we do now, proudly proclaiming, 'We're Canadians! We're better than the rest of the world. Americans — they're racists. And the British took over and colonized the world. But we Canadians, we are a multicultural people and we welcome immigrants!" Statements like this are beginning to reek of stench. We're beginning to realize that none of this is true.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was even more vocal about what's happening, calling Canada a country with an ugly face: "This is an ugly moment in Canada. I don't think with this ugly face of ours, we can stand up on Canada Day and celebrate who we are."

According to the prime minister, there are some rules that should be in place on Canada Day: no clapping hands or making noise: "It's a day of remembrance, mourning, tribute and respect for people who have died. To me, the only way to move forward is to make Canada Day a Day of Remembrance. In fact, it should be Reconciliation Day, a day that should be solemn and sad. A day to wear orange shirts and spread awareness about the inequalities that exist."

March on the Hill

The emerging social movement "Idle No More" (which can be translated as "No Idle Action"), led by indigenous people in Canada, is already heavily sponsoring rallies to be held across the country on July 1. The goal of the rallies is "to honour the memory of all the lives that have been lost to the Canadian state". "Idle No More says it refuses to sit idly by while Canada's brutal history is glorified.

On July 1, a march is expected in Ottawa that will head to Parliament Hill, located on territory once owned by the large Algonquin Anisinaabe Band of Indians.

Gabrielle Fian (a Métis woman), co-founder of a non-profit organization called the Seven Generations Assembly, said she expects non-indigenous Canadians to join the march as well. "I hope Canadians can forget about their pride for one day," Gabrielle spoke out. — "Solidarity with others means that sometimes you have to sacrifice something. Sacrifice a day. We're not really asking for that much."

So what happens on July 1?

Politicians and public figures in Canada have come to the conclusion that it's wise to stick to the golden mean: do not turn the national holiday into a general revelry or into complete mourning.

Back in the first half of June, B.C.'s capital city council, Victoria, voted unanimously to stop the planned virtual broadcast of Canada Day and urged people to think about what it means to be Canadian in light of recent events.

To honour the memory of the indigenous victims and in recognition of the national tragedy of the residential schools, the Canadian Historical Museum in Gatineau, Quebec, has cancelled Canada Day events. Municipalities in New Brunswick, British Columbia and Saskatchewan also chose to reflect more on what happened rather than celebrate.

Nevertheless, a virtual holiday concert and fireworks display organized by the federal Department of Canadian Heritage is all planned for July 1.

On Monday morning, the City of Ottawa is lighting a sacred fire organized by the Ottawa Aboriginal Coalition to honour the memory of Indigenous children. Ottawa is not holding celebrations on July 1, and national flags will continue to be flown at half-mast.