TORONTO —
Thursday marks Canada’s first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, as communities across the country honour Indigenous survivors and children who disappeared from the residential school system.
The new statutory holiday, which the federal government announced in June, asks the country to reflect on Canada’s history of mistreatment of Indigenous people and the lasting intergenerational trauma of the church-run institutions where children were torn from their families and abused.
Creating a National Day for Truth and Reconciliation was one of the 94 calls to action by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) back in 2015.
The last residential school in Canada closed in 1996, with more than 150,000 First Nations, Metis and Inuit children forced to attend the facilities between the 1870s and 1996, according to the TRC.
The facilities were designed to strip Indigenous people of their culture and language, and replace them with a Christian faith and the English language. There were 139 residential schools in the federally funded program, many of which were run by the Catholic Church.
The TRC’s final report estimates that 6,000 children died while attending the schools, although many say the number could be as high as 15,000.
Despite the marking of Sept. 30 as a federal holiday, several provinces, including Alberta, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario, have chosen not to recognize it, meaning that schools and provincial offices in these provinces will remain open.
Singing and drumming is set to ring out at 2:15 p.m. PDT from Kamloops, B.C., where the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc Nation announced in May that ground-penetrating radar had detected at least 215 unmarked graves at the site of one of Canada’s largest former residential schools.
At Cowessess First Nation in southern Saskatchewan, where 751 unmarked graves at the site of the former Marieval Residential School were discovered in June, leaders will hold a community feast and powwow on the grounds of the facility to mark the holiday.
Cowessess First Nation Chief Cadmus Delorme said the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is an important step for Canadians to better understand the pain and trauma many Indigenous people went through at these facilities.
“Recognizing this day is an investment in us and our children and our children yet unborn, so that the truth will prevail that we will all really be in the reconciliation stage with days like this,” he said.
Delorme told CTV News that work to identify those children buried on the site continues, but they have already been able to identify about 300 of them and markers will be made in the near future.
Numerous other Indigenous communities have since reported finding unmarked graves at former residential school sites with the same technology used in Kamloops and Cowessess, prompting calls for justice that have resonated beyond Canada’s border.
The statutory holiday coincides with Orange Shirt Day, which was started in 2013 as a way to honour Indigenous children and educate Canadians about the impact the residential school system had on Indigenous communities. It was inspired by the experiences of Phyllis Webstad, a Northern Secwpemc from the Stswecem’c Xgat’tem First Nation, who had her new orange shirt taken away by residential school staff on her first day of school.
Crowds in orange shirts gathered on Parliament Hill Thursday morning to hear from elders and Indigenous leaders on the horrors of residential schools, and to honour the lost children and survivors. Similar events are being held across the country and online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Chief Reginald Niganobe of Anishinabek Nation in Ontario told CTV News Channel that the holiday is a step in the “right direction” in acknowledging to learn and make efforts to “undo the colonial systems and legacy of residential schools and the Indian Act.”
“Both these institutions go hand-in-hand and continue this date, which are the cause of inequalities that are knowingly imposed on Indigenous First Nations people,” Niganobe said Thursday.
The Indian Act was introduced in 1876 and was used by the Canadian government to administer Indian status, local First Nations governments and the management of reserve land. Under the Indian Act, Indigenous people were forced to attend residential schools, with the RCMP playing a major role in what survivors call kidnappings.
To mark National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Niganobe said, Canadians should familiarize themselves with the TRC’s final report, as well as educate themselves on Canada’s colonial legacy from the perspective of Indigenous authors, speakers and elders within their communities.
“I hope this leads to a greater understanding of inequalities that First Nations people face and have always faced and continue to face to this date,” he said. “An education on a lot of this will probably help us move forward as a nation.”
LEADERS RECOGNIZE DAY TO REFLECT
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took to Twitter early Thursday, noting that the holiday should be a day for reflection to honour residential schools survivors, their families, and those children who never returned home.
He also reaffirmed his government’s commitment to “advancing reconciliation in concrete ways.”
“Together, we must continue to learn about residential schools and the intergenerational trauma they have caused. It is only by facing these truths and righting these wrongs that we, in partnership with Indigenous peoples, can move toward a better future,” Trudeau said in a tweet.
“I join with all Canadians on this first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation to reflect on the painful history that Indigenous peoples endured in residential schools in Canada, and on the work that remains to heal and to continue to build an inclusive society,” she said.
In a joint statement from Indigenous Services Canada, several federal ministers called residential schools a “shameful part of damaging racist and colonial policies” and acknowledged that the government has “more work to do” in addressing the calls to action outlined by the TRC.
“All Canadians have the opportunity to come together to ensure that we commemorate the history and recognize the harmful legacy of residential schools, and that this remains an essential part of reconciliation. It is a time for reflection and a commitment to reconciliation and to continuing the work ahead,” the statement read.
Gov. Gen. Mary Simon, the first Indigenous person to take on the role, said in a statement that the holiday is a poignant one for her as the child of a white father and an Inuk mother.
While she was not allowed to attend residential schools, Simon said, her community “felt the sorrow” of those children who were taken from their families.
“I stayed behind, home-schooled, and visited families where there was a palpable void. I was a stand-in, a well-loved substitute, for mothers and fathers who desperately missed their children,” Simon said in the statement.
Simon said Canada’s legacy of colonization is “hard to accept,” but necessary to address as the country works towards reconciliation.
“Reconciliation is a way of life, continuous, with no end date. It is learning from our lived experiences and understanding one another. It is creating the necessary space for us to heal. It is planting seeds of hope and respect so that our garden blooms for our children,” Simon said.
“As we strive to acknowledge the horrors of the past, the suffering inflicted on Indigenous peoples, let us all stand side-by-side with grace and humility, and work together to build a better future for all.”
Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole issued a statement on Facebook, encouraging Canadians to take part in public commemoration, education, and conversations about the “painful and lasting impacts of residential schools” on Sept. 30.
“This is a heartbreaking reminder of the pain Indigenous children, their families, and their communities were subjected to through residential schools, and that more work needs to be done to address the devastating and harmful effects,” O’Toole said in part. “In order for Canada to reach its full potential as a nation, reconciliation must be central to these efforts.”
On the eve of Canada’s first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, several survivors spoke to a crowd of hundreds on Parliament Hill to discuss the terrors they experienced in the residential school system.
“It is my hope that in 100 years from now our future generations will identify this date as a milestone in healing the nation and bringing us closer to reconciliation,” said Jimmy Durocher, a Metis man and residential school survivor from Ile-a-la-Crosse, Sask.
On this first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, we reflect on the lasting impacts of residential schools. We honour survivors and their families. We remember the children who never made it home. And we reaffirm our commitment to advancing reconciliation in concrete ways.
Together, we must continue to learn about residential schools and the intergenerational trauma they have caused. It is only by facing these truths and righting these wrongs that we, in partnership with Indigenous peoples, can move toward a better future. https://t.co/Myv6w3lTkn
With files from The Canadian Press, CTV National News reporter Creeson Agecoutay, and CTVNews.ca writer Ben Cousins
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If you are a former residential school student in distress, or have been affected by the residential school system and need help, you can contact the 24-hour Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line: 1-866-925-4419
Additional mental-health support and resources for Indigenous people are available here.
NEW GLASGOW, N.S. – Police in New Glasgow, N.S., say a 44-year-old woman faces fraud charges after funds went missing from the Pictou East Progressive Conservative Association.
New Glasgow Regional Police began the investigation on Oct. 7, after Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston reported that an undisclosed amount of money had gone missing from his riding association’s account.
Police allege that a volunteer who was acting as treasurer had withdrawn funds from the association’s account between 2016 and 2024.
The force says it arrested Tara Amanda Cohoon at her Pictou County, N.S., residence on Oct. 11.
They say investigators seized mobile electronic devices, bank records and cash during a search of the home.
Cohoon has since been released and is to appear in Pictou provincial court on Dec. 2 to face charges of forgery, uttering a forged document, theft over $5,000 and fraud over $5,000.
Police say their investigation remains ongoing.
Houston revealed the investigation to reporters on Oct. 9, saying he felt an “incredible level of betrayal” over the matter.
The premier also said a volunteer he had known for many years had been dismissed from the association and the party.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2024.
PICTOU, N.S. – A Nova Scotia excavation company has been fined $80,000 after a worker died when scaffolding collapsed on one of its job sites.
In a decision released Wednesday, a Nova Scotia provincial court judge in Pictou, N.S., found the failure by Blaine MacLane Excavation Ltd. to ensure scaffolding was properly installed led to the 2020 death of Jeff MacDonald, a self-employed electrician.
The sentence was delivered after the excavation company was earlier found guilty of an infraction under the province’s Occupational Health and Safety Act.
Judge Bryna Hatt said in her decision she found the company “failed in its duty” to ensure that pins essential to the scaffolding’s stability were present at the work site.
Her decision said MacDonald was near the top of the structure when it collapsed on Dec. 9, 2020, though the exact height is unknown.
The judge said that though the excavation company did not own the scaffolding present on its job site, there was no evidence the company took steps to prevent injury, which is required under legislation.
MacDonald’s widow testified during the trial that she found her husband’s body at the job site after he didn’t pick up their children as planned and she couldn’t get in touch with him over the phone.
Julie MacDonald described in her testimony how she knew her husband had died upon finding him due to her nursing training, and that she waited alone in the dark for emergency responders to arrive after calling for help.
“My words cannot express how tragic this accident was for her, the children, and their extended family,” Hatt wrote in the sentencing decision.
“No financial penalty will undo the damage and harm that has been done, or adequately represent the loss of Mr. MacDonald to his family, friends, and our community.”
In addition to the $80,000 fine, the New Glasgow-based company must also pay a victim-fine surcharge of $12,000 and provide $8,000 worth of community service to non-profits in Pictou County.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2024.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Investigators found the remains of a 77-year-old American man on Wednesday at the scene of a fire that destroyed a hotel in western Newfoundland on the weekend.
Eugene Earl Spoon, a guest at the hotel, was visiting Newfoundland from Kansas. His remains were found Wednesday morning during a search of the debris left behind after the fire tore through the Driftwood Inn in Deer Lake, N.L., on Saturday, the RCMP said in a news release.
“RCMP (Newfoundland and Labrador) extends condolences to the family and friends of the missing man,” the news release said.
Spoon was last seen Friday evening in the community of about 4,800 people in western Newfoundland. The fire broke out early Saturday morning, the day Spoon was reported missing.
Several crews from the area fought the flames for about 16 hours before the final hot spot was put out, and police said Wednesday that investigators are still going through the debris.
Meanwhile, the provincial Progressive Conservative Opposition reiterated its call for a wider review of what happened.
“Serious questions have been raised about the fire, and the people deserve answers,” Tony Wakeham, the party’s leader, said in a news release Wednesday. “A thorough investigation must be conducted to determine the cause and prevent such tragedies in the future.”
The party has said it spoke to people who escaped the burning hotel, and they said alarm and sprinkler systems did not seem to have been activated during the fire. However, Stephen Rowsell, the Deer Lake fire chief, has said there were alarms going off when crews first arrived.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2024.
