Justin Trudeau: "July 1 is not yet a day to celebrate"
Thousands of people showed up at a rally calling for Canada Day to be cancelled on Parliament Hill.
A sea of orange shirts replaced the usual red and white on Parliament Hill and in downtown Ottawa on July 1 as thousands called for "Canada Day to be cancelled" following the recent discovery of unmarked graves at three former boarding schools. Thousands shouted "Shame on Canada," "No pride in genocide," and "Bring them home!" as they marched on the Hill.
In memory of the dead
On Thursday, Indigenous people from the Algonquin Anisinaabe Tribe of Canada and the Indigenous human rights group No Inaction organized the #CancelCanadaDay march ("Cancel Canada Day"). Those in attendance marched from the Department of Indigenous Services Canada building in Gatineau to Parliament Hill. On their website, human rights activists from No Action alerted that such a march was needed to "honour all those who died in the Canadian state."
"We will not celebrate Canada's ongoing genocide against Indigenous peoples," their same statement on Facebook reads. — Instead, we will gather to honour all the lives lost in the Canadian state, including the many lives blighted in residential schools."
The elders and survivors of the boarding schools began their presentation with prayer.
Addressing the gathering, Elder Claudette Commanda said she was happy to see everyone who came to the march dressed in orange. She also said that if Canada is to remain true to its policy of reconciliation, it must reconcile not with individual corporations, but with indigenous peoples and nations.
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