Pope Francis arrived in Canada on Sunday to an honour drum song ahead of what he describes as a “penitential” trip aimed at advancing reconciliation with Indigenous people over the lasting harm suffered in residential schools.
The drum group from Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation sang in front of Francis as he sat between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Gov. Gen. Mary Simon in an airport hangar at the Edmonton International Airport.
The Pope told reporters on the plane before it landed in Edmonton that the six-day visit must be handled with care.
The pontiff is also set to travel to Quebec City and Iqaluit.
“I hope, with God’s grace, that my penitential pilgrimage might contribute to the journey of reconciliation already undertaken. Please accompany me with prayer,” said a message on the Pope’s Twitter account.
Dear brothers and sisters of <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Canada?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Canada</a>, I come among you to meet the indigenous peoples. I hope, with God’s grace, that my penitential pilgrimage might contribute to the journey of reconciliation already undertaken. Please accompany me with <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/prayer?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#prayer</a>.
An elevator was used to get the Pope off the plane, and he went for a short ride in a Fiat to the hangar. He then got into a wheelchair and was taken to a red carpet for the official welcoming ceremony.
Treaty Six Grand Chief George Arcand Jr. gave the Pope a beaded medallion and was handed an unknown item in return.
“I hope that this visit is the beginning of a change in history, a change in the way business is going to be done, and a way for us to begin our healing journey,” Arcand Jr. told CBC News after the arrival ceremony.
“More importantly, I asked the Pope to walk with us and create this new road that needs to be created.”
Francis kissed the hand of residential school survivor Alma Desjarlais of the Frog Lake First Nation as she welcomed the Pope along with Grand Chief Greg Desjarlais of the Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations.
Francis was also greeted by other church, Indigenous and political dignitaries.
Pope Francis was then set to be driven to the St. Joseph Seminary, where he will be staying during the Alberta portion of the trip.
WATCH | Indigenous rights advocate hopes for ‘not just another apology’:
As Pope lands in Canada, Indigenous rights advocate hopes for ‘not just another apology’
8 hours ago
Duration 1:24
Pope Francis arrived in Edmonton to begin a six-day tour of Canada aimed at reconciliation with Indigenous people. Riley Yesno, an Indigenous rights advocate and writer, hopes people keep the wide-ranging feelings of residential school survivors in mind during the Pope’s visit.
The Pope plans to visit the former Ermineskin Indian Residential School in the community of Maskwacis, south of Edmonton, on Monday. That is where Francis is to deliver his first public statement in Canada and is expected to apologize to Indigenous people for abuses they have suffered.
An estimated 150,000 Indigenous children were forced to attend residential schools in Canada, where neglect and physical and sexual abuse were rampant. More than 60 per cent of the schools were run by the Roman Catholic Church.
On Sunday, Grand Chief Desjarlais said his thoughts were with those who did not make it home from residential schools — and with those who survived them.
Desjarlais said he’s optimistic about the apology, but the fact remains that generations of Indigenous people in Canada have been traumatized, he said.
“Now I hope the world will see why our people are so hurt,” he told reporters.
“When you own up to a wrong, that’s when reconciliation can start.”
Vicki Arcand, an elder of Alexander First Nation and a residential school survivor, said she feels the Pope’s visit is long overdue. But she hopes it will encourage people to start thinking differently and try to deal with their past trauma.
“Maybe [the Pope’s visit] is something that should have happened many, many years ago. Maybe the start of reconciliation would have started then,” she said.
‘This is an important historical moment’
Arcand Jr. said last week that survivors have been carrying unimaginable trauma for many generations. The Pope’s acknowledgement of their pain is a crucial step, he said.
“This is an important historical moment for survivors of the residential school system and the harm caused by the Catholic Church,” Arcand Jr. said.
RoseAnne Archibald, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, said she is looking forward to the apology but feels the focus on survivors has gotten lost during the organization of the Pope’s visit.
Pope Francis greets Arcand, left, and others during a welcome ceremony at the airport hangar in Edmonton on Sunday. (Evan Mitsui/CBC)
“[The church] has not been including us in the proper planning of this trip. It has been very unilateral, and we don’t feel it has been about survivors,” Archibald said, referring, for example, to the church trying to raise funds through tickets at a mass this week.
“We have to refocus on what we’re really doing here — and that’s about survivors … listening to that apology from the Pope.”
On April 1, after meetings over several days with First Nations, Inuit and Métis groups at the Vatican, Francis apologized for the deplorable conduct of some church members involved in residential schools and promised to visit Canada.
Indigenous delegates had told the Pope they wanted an apology on Canadian soil.
First Nations leaders in Alberta said they expect the Pope’s presence to open old wounds for Indigenous people and that mental health counsellors will be at the sites. But they also hope the visit will be a step toward reconciliation.
WATCH | What an apology from the Pope in Canada could mean for reconciliation:
What a residential school apology from the Pope in Canada could mean for reconciliation
2 days ago
Duration 3:36
Pope Francis will be arriving in Canada and some survivors are hoping for an apology for the Roman Catholic Church’s role in abuses suffered at residential schools. From resources for healing to returning Indigenous artifacts, First Nations, Métis and Inuit leaders explain what the visit and apology mean for reconciliation.
“We are here with you and we are supporting you,” Louis Bull Tribe Chief Desmond Bull told survivors last week.
Archibald said she hopes there are enough mental health supports for people who listen to the Pope’s anticipated apology because it will trigger a lot of pain and raw emotion — on the day of, as well as the future.
The Ermineskin school south of Edmonton was one of the largest of the institutions in Canada. Organizers of the papal visit have said they expect about 15,000 people will be at Maskwacis to see the 85-year-old pontiff.
Later Monday, Francis is to meet parishioners of an inner-city church in Edmonton. A large outdoor mass at the city’s football stadium is scheduled for Tuesday. The Pope then heads to nearby Lac Ste. Anne to take part in an annual pilgrimage.
Francis is to travel on Wednesday to Quebec City and deliver a public address following meetings with Trudeau and Simon. The following day, another large mass is scheduled in Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré.
The visit is set to finish on Friday in Iqaluit before Francis heads back to the Vatican.
Organizers have said that due to the Pope’s age and physical limitations, he will take part in public events for about an hour and will use a wheelchair throughout the tour.
Shortly after departing from Rome, the Pope used a cane to help him move around the airplane as he greeted individual reporters.
“I believe I can make it,” he joked.
Thousands have travelled from different parts of the country to take part in the events.
Mabel Brown, a 77-year-old residential school survivor, journeyed to Edmonton from Inuvik to hear the Pope apologize and find forgiveness and healing with other survivors. She hopes it’s an opportunity to move forward in a good way.
“This is a very important time in history,” she said. “Better things are yet to come.”
Support is available for anyone affected by the lingering effects of residential schools and those who are triggered by the latest reports. The Indian Residential School Survivors Society can be contacted toll-free at 1-800-721-0066.
A national Indian Residential School Crisis Line has been set up to provide support for former students and those affected. Access emotional and crisis referral services by calling the 24-hour national crisis line: 1-866-925-4419.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
