One Canadian city has cancelled Canada Day: Should Toronto follow suit?
In light of the recent discovery of hundreds of children’s remains at residential schools across the nation, some cities in Canada are considering cancelling all July 1 celebrations — and one already has.
On June 10, Victoria, B.C. was the first to announce the cancellation.
“As First Nations mourn, and in light of the challenging moment we are in as a Canadian nation following the discovery of the remains of 215 children at a former Residential School, Council has decided to take the time to explore new possibilities, instead of the previously planned virtual Canada Day broadcast,” Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps said in a statement.
Now, questions are swirling around whether other cities will follow suit — Toronto included.
Dr. Angela Mashford Pringle, an assistant professor of Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto and a member of the Timiskaming First Nation, told CTV News Toronto Tuesday that she feels the holiday is celebrating “colonization and oppression and genocide.”
While she says the celebrations should be cancelled out of respect for the children, she added that there are other serious issues facing Indigenous communities right now that would make a July 1 celebration inappropriate.
“I think there are a few things that are different [this year]. First, the pandemic, while we had it last year, it is actually hitting First Nations and Metis communities, specifically remote ones, much harder right now … We've also had the Inquiry for the Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and the subsequent lack of response from government,” Pringle said.
“And the fact that we have a number of First Nations who don't have clean drinking water, that we have inadequate housing and that we've got overcrowding in the houses that we do have,” she continued.
When reached for comment, the City of Toronto said that, last week, Council recommitted to and approved taking further action to support truth, justice, and reconciliation.
The city reiterated that it had indeed cancelled in-person Canada Day celebrations this year, due to COVID-19 concerns.
“As in past years, the City will announce details of its (now virtual) Canada Day programming closer to the date,” Deborah Blackstone, spokesperson for the City of Toronto, told CTV News Toronto.
Nelson Wiseman, Director of Canadian Studies at the University of Toronto, said he doesn’t understand what the significance of cancelling the holiday would be.
“For most people, Canada Day is simply a day off work. The overwhelming majority of Canadians do not celebrate any of our holidays. They celebrate the fact that they're not working. Overall, very few people actually go out to celebrate,” Wiseman told CTV News Toronto Wednesday.
“Why don't [they] pick Christmas? After all, it was a Christian denomination that ran these institutions.”
Kyra Schrader of Toronto feels differently.
“ My father, sister and I are Métis. We will not be celebrating Canada Day as it’s a celebration on the Indigenous, Inuit and Métis genocide,” Schrader said Tuesday. “My great grandfather was a survivor of the Residential school system. He was forced to attend the Spanish River Residential School. I don’t see what we have to celebrate when this country literally has the blood of Métis, Indigenous and Inuit communities on their hands.”
“My mum, half-brother and niece all bought orange shirts and we will all wear them on Canada Day. We do this to honour our ancestors and our cousins,” she continued.
When asked what a reformed Canada Day could look like, Pringle offered her own suggestion.
“There are other ways for us to celebrate it doesn't have to be Canada Day. I know in the United States for Columbus Day, they are changing it to Indigenous Peoples’ Day so maybe Canada Day becomes our Indigenous Peoples Day.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
BREAKING New York appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark #MeToo trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
Residents of northern Alberta First Nation told to shelter in place
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
First in Canada procedure performed at London, Ont. hospital
A London man has become the first person in Canada to receive a robotic assisted surgery on his spine. Dave Myeh suffered from debilitating, chronic back pain that led to sciatica in his right now and extreme pain in his lower back.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.