The Every Child Matters flag was raised at a ceremony at Barrie City Hall this afternoon to recognize the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation coming up on Sept. 30.
The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is a national holiday to honour Indigenous children who were forcibly removed from their homes, with many of the children never coming back.
“We have this day to remember and for the stories to tell for generations to come, and I am appreciative of people showing up,” said Paula West Oreskovich, president of the Barrie Native Friendship Centre. “We can show up and wear orange on Sept. 30 to remember the children.”
Today's flag-raising marked the beginning of “remembering those children who were ripped from their families and their communities and put into residential schools, and the effect that had on those children and the communities as a whole,” Barrie Mayor Alex Nuttall told BarrieToday outside city hall after the event on Friday.
He emphasized the importance of education when it comes to remembering, “and to hold a moment, a day in this case, where we can learn and bring others into the space and teach us about the different things that happened, the feelings that remain, and the traumas that obviously remain as well, and recognizing that is the only way to move forward.”
West Oreskovich noted there is an event downtown by the Spirit Catcher, called the sunrise to sunset ceremony.
“We invite everyone to come and listen to some elders and listen to some knowledge keepers,” she added.
The event is on Sept. 30 from 6:30 a.m. to sunset, with events and speakers all day.
