‘The recent discovery at Kamloops Indian Residential School has reminded us that Canada remains a country that has built its foundation on the erasure and genocide of Indigenous Peoples & Nations, including children. We refuse to sit idle while Canada’s violent history is celebrated. We are once again calling on Indigenous land, water and sky protectors and allies to come together and disrupt the celebration.’
- Idle No More
With July 1st approaching, we wanted to share some calls to action for #CancelCanadaDay
1 Join an action/rally/march near you
Head to the Idle No More Website to check for rallys/marchs & action happening in your area or learn how to start a #cancelcanadaday action in your city
http://idlenomore.ca/cancelcanadaday
2 Support the Search of Residential Schools
After the first 215 babies found in Kamloops, there have been more searches being conducted on former Residential School grounds. As I am writing this, we’ve just gotten news that 751 Indigenous children's remains have been found in unmarked graves at the former Marieval Indian Residential School in so-called Saskatchewan. Indigenous People of course are feeling so much hurt, grief and pain with the news of these graves and childrens remains, but we aren’t surprised or shocked, as the rest of Canada seems to be. Our people knew of this, we knew of the horror, abuse, trauma and death that occurred in those schools at the hands of the Churches that ran those schools, but we were silenced or too scared to talk. Now the truth is coming out and we are calling for ALL SCHOOLS to be searched!
3 Demand the federal government release names of everybody involved in the residential schools including priests & nuns
No one from the churches have been held accountable for the abuse and murder that occurred in these schools at the hands of these priests & nuns. We have never gotten justice. Why is that these children were murdered and no one has ever been held accountable? Why are these nuns and priests names that abused and killed these children, not out in the open for all the know? There are records of the names of the priests and nuns that ran these schools, the years they ran them etc. So when we find hundreds of Indigenous children's remains in unmarked graves on the grounds of these schools, should those priests and nuns that ran those schools not be held accountable? Should their legacy and their names not be shared for all to know who these monsters and child killers were? Should the priests and nuns families not be made aware of the horror their kin ensued upon our people, that their kin is a child murderer? Whenever anyone is murdered within Canada, typically justice is served, the killer caught, arrested and is put before the courts to decide upon a sentence. Why is it any different with the Indigenous Children that were murdered at the hands of these nuns and priests? Those children and their families deserve justice, deserve for the people that killed their kin to be held accountable, and for the rest of Canada to know who these monsters were.
4 Contact your local city/community/decision makers to Cancel Canada Day celebrations to standing with Indigenous Peoples in mourning
Following cities in Coast Salish Territories, like so-called Victoria for example, that have Cancelled Canada Day Celebrations; we’re calling for all of Canada to cancel all Canada Day celebrations because ‘theres no pride in genocide’. Simply contact your city councillors and urge them to stand with Indigenous Peoples, show solidarity in our mourning and to #cancelcanadaday in your town or city.