CANADA
Rabble
BY GREG MACDOUGALL | APRIL 30, 2013
This past week in Montréal was the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Canada’s Québec National Event, the fifth of seven such gatherings across the country.
From April 24-27, an estimated 12,000 visitors stopped in to the historic Fairmont Queen Elizabeth Hotel, and some 8000 tuned in online, to engage in the process of learning about this history, what exactly the residential school experience meant for survivors and for the country as a whole, and how we can move forward.
“The important thing that I do want people to understand is that this is not an Aboriginal problem, this is not just for Aboriginal people to address. The issue of the impact of residential schools upon this nation is an issue that the nation as a whole needs to address, and then as a country, as a future nation of this world, we will be in a better situation when Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people have full mutual respect for each other, and that’s what reconciliation is all about,” says Murray Sinclair, Chair of the TRC.
There were a number of different activities over the four days. It began with the lighting of a sacred fire, and there was also a Survivors’ Walk and Procession before the welcome and opening ceremonies.
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