Actions and Commitments

Call to Action # 81: Commemoration (79-83)

Monument to residential school survivors, victims to be built on Parliament Hill

June 20, 2023

Governor General says monument is a ‘significant’ step toward reconciliation

The Canadian Press · Posted: Jun 20, 2023 12:37 PM EDT | Last Updated: 35 minutes ago

A woman hugs a woman in a green jacket as spectators look on.
Governor General Mary Simon hugs residential school survivor Navalik Tologanak as they take part in the site selection ceremony for the Residential Schools National Monument on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Tuesday, June 20, 2023. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)

CBC News: the Canadian Press – A survivor-led steering committee announced Tuesday that a monument commemorating survivors and victims of residential schools will be built on the west side of Parliament Hill.

Ottawa appointed the committee in April 2022 to select a site for a national residential schools monument in keeping with one of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action.

Gov. Gen. Mary Simon said at a ceremony Tuesday morning that the monument is a “significant” step toward reconciliation. She said in a speech that it will serve as a reminder to parliamentarians that the policies they create and enforce have consequences.

The steering committee says it worked in collaboration with the Algonquin Anishinabe Nation and residential school survivors to determine the location of the monument.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez both attended the ceremony.

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