The crowd left the intersection of Portage Avenue and Main Street at 5 p.m. and arrived at the grounds outside the Manitoba Legislative Building as the “Cancel Canada Day” rally began. Winnipeg police urged motorists in the area to take an alternate route or expect delays during the march. It’s the second year that rallies have been held in Winnipeg on Canada Day to draw attention to the painful legacy of the country’s residential school system. Michael Yellowwing Kannon says Friday’s “Cancel Canada Day” rally was a follow-up from last year when two statues were toppled near the Manitoba legislature building. (Stephanie Cram/CBC) On 1 July 2021, two statues of British monarchs were toppled during a rally aimed at replacing national holiday celebrations with actions in memory of hundreds of indigenous children buried in unmarked graves in residential schools across the country. A toppled and decapitated statue of Queen Victoria has been deemed beyond repair by the provincial government and will not be restored. Michael Yellowwing Kannon was by the statue last year, taking photos as it was tied with ropes and pulled to the ground. “The sound of the bronze breaking the stone sounded like a tomb opening, releasing all these residential school bodies,” he said. Yellowwing Kannon, a survivor of the Sixties Scoop, recalled chants of “no pride, no genocide” rang out last year. He said this year’s rally is a continuation of the turning point that occurred last July. The ‘Cancel Canada Day’ march walks through downtown Winnipeg on Friday. (Stephanie Cram/CBC) “This is something different,” he said. “As the rest of the nation does its part, we celebrate our resilience against genocide.”
Different meaning of Canada Day
Canada Day has a different meaning for Jamie Couture after the discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves at the site of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in May 2021. “After they found a bunch of unmarked graves with our ancestors in them, it absolutely changed,” he said. Couture, who is Anishinaabe, said it was important for her two daughters to be at the rally. He emphasized the importance of knowing Canada’s past, including the source of suffering for First Nations people, something he has dealt with over the past two generations. “It just means trying to change the future, trying to fund our way back, our seven teachings, our way and everything that was lost,” Couture said of the rally. Gilbert Paul was one of several people who placed painted handprints on the former site of a statue of Queen Victoria on Friday. (Sam Samson/CBC) Like Couture, Gilbert Paul’s perception of Canada Day has changed. He attended the rally because he wanted to see unity, not only among the natives, but also among people of different and diverse origins. “I learned a lot growing up and a different perspective and a different world today, and I’m so proud of everyone coming out,” Paul said. “It means the world to me.” Paul, who is Ojibway, has ties to residential schools. Both his parents survived the schools, and it was important to him to have the opportunity to place an orange footprint where the statue of Queen Victoria stood. Handprints cover the site where a statue of Queen Victoria once stood in Winnipeg. (Stephanie Cram/CBC) “It’s not just a handprint,” Paul said. Blanche Chief was out in Assiniboine Park on Friday, selling jewelry and orange T-shirts with various slogans. He suggested that it might be time to have a different holiday instead of Canada Day. “Now is perhaps the time to have a day to remember the colonial genocide that took place in Canada,” he said. “It is not a day for celebration.”
