Moments before Pope Francis began leading mass at the Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré Basilica outside Quebec City Thursday morning, two people made their way to the front of the altar to hold a brief, silent protest urging the pontiff to go further in his efforts for healing and reconciliation with Indigenous people in Canada.
The protesters held up a large banner that read “Rescind the doctrine” with the Pope and other members of the clergy standing steps away.
The banner is a reference to the Doctrine of Discovery, which is inspired by centuries-old papal bulls that justified the colonization, conversion and enslavement of non-Christians and the seizure of their lands — and, scholars say, laid the foundation for Canada’s claim to land and the Indian Act.
Many members of Indigenous communities across the country were hoping the Pope would do more to speak out against this doctrine during his weeklong trip to Canada.
Sarain Fox, who is an artist and activist from the Batchewana First Nation, was one of the people who took part in a brief silent protest before mass. She felt it was important to urge Pope Francis to rescind the Doctrine of Discovery. (Jennifer Yoon/CBC)
Sarain Fox, an artist and activist who took part in the protest, said the message was necessary following the Pope’s apologies this week which, according to her, were underwhelming.
“It’s important for us to be recognized as human beings so it’s not enough just to apologize. You need to talk about the root of everything,” said Fox, who is from the Batchewana First Nation near Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., and whose aunt is a residential school survivor.
“Indigenous people are looking for action and our elders have very little time left to see that action.”
Once the ceremony got underway, the banner was then put on display outside the basilica.
Olivia Munoz, a Kanien’kehá:ka woman whose grandfather attended residential school in Brantford, Ont., came from Los Angeles because she wanted to represent the families of survivors.
“We’re like the third generation, and we feel the effects of what has happened to them,” she said. “It was a subject that we only heard one time spoken, and that was it. But I feel the pain. I feel their pain.”
Pope speaks of ‘burden of failure’ in Quebec mass
Pope Francis said there are ‘burning questions’ and a sense of failure around the wounding of Indigenous people in Canada, comments he made in his homily during mass at Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré Basilica in Quebec on Thursday.
Journey for reconciliation is ‘demanding,’ Pope says
During mass, Pope Francis reflected on how the faithful can at times feel a “sense of failure” for actions of the past, specifically related to Indigenous people in Canada.
“Brothers and sisters, these are our own questions, and they are the burning questions that this [Church] in Canada is asking, with heartfelt sorrow, on its difficult and demanding journey of healing and reconciliation,” the pontiff said.
“In confronting the scandal of evil and the body of Christ wounded in the flesh of our Indigenous brothers and sisters, we too have experienced deep dismay; we too feel the burden of failure.”
In addition to the Pope, members of the clergy took turns addressing the audience.
And three sisters from Pessamit on Quebec’s North Shore, Élisabeth, Jeannette and Solange Vollant, performed an offering hymn in Innu as the Eucharist was prepared.
Three Innu sisters sing offertory hymn at Pope Francis’s mass
Sisters Élisabeth, Jeannette and Solange Vollant, from the Innu community of Pessamit, on Quebec’s North Shore, sing the offertory hymn, which is sung before the preparation of the Eucharist, at the mass presided over by Pope Francis at Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré Basilica in Quebec.
There were about 2,000 people inside the basilica with several thousands more watching on large screens on the shrine’s grounds.
Seats inside the basilica were reserved for Indigenous participants, delegations from Eastern Canadian dioceses and some government officials.
The mass was also broadcast on the Plains of Abraham as well as in a number of movie theatres in the province.
Eucharist was handed out to those outside the basilica, as well as to those on the Plains of Abraham — although there was not enough for everyone on the plains to take part in the sacrament.
In his speech Wednesday in Quebec City, the Pope said he wanted to express “deep shame and sorrow” for the residential school system in Canada, in which “local Catholic institutions had a part.”
While he stopped short of denouncing the Catholic Church as a whole and its role in creating that system, Francis brought up the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, saying it would inspire a commitment from Catholic communities to promote Indigenous cultures.
Pope already condemned ‘principles’ of doctrine, says spokesperson
In response to the criticism that the Pope didn’t say enough about the Doctrine of Discovery, Laryssa Waler, a spokesperson for the Papal visit, defended the pontiff’s apology.
She said the apology was “informed directly by the stories he heard from residential school survivors, elders, knowledge keepers and youth who travelled to the Vatican to tell their stories.”
She also said Pope Francis acknowledged different forms of abuse as well as “the memories, scars and open wounds that persist to this day.”
“The Holy Father also directly condemned many of the policies and principles that are commonly associated with the Doctrine of Discovery,” Waler said.
The spokesperson added that Canada’s bishops are working with the Vatican with the goal of issuing a new statement from the church about the doctrine.
A lawyer who specializes in Indigenous rights said the Pope explicitly denouncing the doctrine — especially while in Canada — would have major ramifications for the relationship between the federal government and Indigenous people, even if the church has already said it no longer supports the 15th-century papal bulls that inspired it.
“Because then, it puts pressure on the federal government to take direct action itself, legally, following up from the Pope’s statements,” said Bruce McIvor, a lawyer at the First Peoples Law firm, and a member of the Red River Métis.
“One possibility is the federal government could enact legislation specifically renouncing the Doctrine of Discovery and setting out a proposal for how they will engage with Indigenous people to chart a new path forward.”
Support is available for anyone affected by their experience at residential schools or by the latest reports.
A national Indian Residential School Crisis Line has been set up to provide support for former students and those affected. People can access emotional and crisis referral services by calling the 24-hour national crisis line: 1-866-925-4419.
Mental health counselling and crisis support is also available 24 hours a day, seven days a week through the Hope for Wellness hotline at 1-855-242-3310 or by online chat at www.hopeforwellness.ca.
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.
