Victoria postpones Canada Day plans in light of residential school deaths
The City of Victoria is no longer planning to host a virtual Canada Day celebration on July 1 and will instead create a broadcast focused on broader Canadian history with guidance from local Lekwungen people.
The city says the broadcast will be released later in the summer and will consider "what it means to be Canadian."
"Context changed when those 215 children's bodies were discovered and they (the Lekwungen Nation) are reeling and everybody is reeling," said Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps on Thursday. "We're all just doing our best to figure out how to move forward."
People visiting a residential school memorial on the steps of the B.C. legislature Thursday largely agreed with the city's assessment.
"It's very hard to feel pride in Canada these days, so yes, I think it's a good idea to just cancel it for this year," said island resident Margo Taylor-Ritchie.
"Maybe Canada Day this year should be in remembrance of all the residential school survivors and the victims," said another resident, Jennifer Gray.
Across the country there are similar calls to cancel this year's Canada Day celebrations.
On social media, #cancelcanadaday has been gaining traction, and Indigenous group Idle No More has planned several rallies on July 1 across the country.
"I applaud the groups that take the time and energy and the daringness to really show that there are other ways and other explanations – and are not pretending that life is just the same as it was yesterday or the day before," said Priscilla Settee, Indigenous studies professor at the University of Saskatchewan.
Victoria council unanimously voted to replace the Canada Day broadcast at a council meeting Thursday.
In May, before the remains of the children in Kamloops were discovered, Victoria was looking for applicants to produce a virtual Canada Day event, similar to what took place in 2020.
At the time, the virtual event had a budget of $65,000.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Average hourly wage in Canada now $34.95: StatCan
Average hourly wages among Canadian employees rose to $34.95 on a year-over-year basis in April, a 4.7 per cent increase, according to a Statistics Canada report released Friday morning.
From outer space? Sask. farmers baffled after discovering strange wreckage in field
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
This iconic Canadian song is turning 50
Andy Kim's 'Rock Me Gently' is marking a major milestone, as it celebrates its 50th anniversary.
Oprah Winfrey: I set an unrealistic standard for dieting
Oprah Winfrey said on Thursday evening that she has long played a role in promoting unhealthy and unrealistic diets.
Ontario family receives massive hospital bill as part of LTC law, refuses to pay
A southwestern Ontario woman has received an $8,400 bill from a hospital in Windsor, Ont., after she refused to put her mother in a nursing home she hated -- and she says she has no intention of paying it.
Toronto police called to Drake's Bridle Path mansion for another alleged intruder on Thursday
Toronto police say a man who allegedly attempted to access Drake’s Bridle Path property was taken to hospital on Thursday after an altercation with security guards.
Flat tire on a highway? Here's why you shouldn't try to fix it
If you're cruising down a highway and realize you have a flat tire, you may want to think twice before stopping to fix it on the side of the road.
Storm-battered U.S. South is again under threat. A boy swept into a drain fights for his life
Dangerous storms crashed over parts of the U.S. South on Thursday even as the region cleaned up from earlier severe weather that spawned tornadoes, killed at least three people, and gravely injured a boy who was swept into a storm drain as he played in a flooded street.
Broadcaster and commentator Rex Murphy dead at 77: National Post
The National Post is reporting that Rex Murphy, the pundit and columnist who hosted a national call-in radio show for decades, has died.