Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday extended his best wishes to Canadians on the country's national holiday, but noted the occasion is a time for reflection amid the discovery of the remains of hundreds of children at sites of former forced assimilation schools
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st July, 2021) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday extended his best wishes to Canadians on the country's national holiday, but noted the occasion is a time for reflection amid the discovery of the remains of hundreds of children at sites of former forced assimilation schools.
In recent weeks, Canadian First Nations communities have uncovered hundreds of unmarked graves at the sites of former residential schools, where indigenous children were forcibly sent to be assimilated into European Canadian society.
"Today, we celebrate our country and everyone who calls it home. We also reflect on everything we have accomplished, and look forward to what more we have to do," Trudeau said in a statement. "While we acknowledge our successes, we must also recognize that, for some, Canada Day is not yet a day of celebration."
Trudeau pointed out that while the past cannot be changed, Canadians can recommit to building a better, fairer and more equitable country.
While the majority of Canadians still plan to commemorate the country's national holiday, according to polls, protests are still planned throughout the country amid an effort to "cancel" Canada Day.
Groups are planned at various locations, including in Vancouver, throughout Ontario and some planning to stage demonstrations in front of Canadian flags.
There have been calls by various groups to cancel the annual Canada Day celebration in commemoration of the country's confederation on July 1 before, however, the grisly discovery has ignited widespread anger throughout the country leading to calls for the country to entirely distance itself from its colonial history.
According to Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission report, released in 2015, roughly 150,000 aboriginal children were forcibly assimilated through the residential schools from 1883 to 1998, in a process equated to "cultural genocide."
The report discovered that around 3,200 died in the schools, with the greatest number of deaths taking place before 1940. Schools also had high rates of tuberculosis and other health incidences in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with death rates remaining high until the 1950s.
