Don’t use the flag as a political prop: Senator Wells
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When the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) released its final report in 2015, it shocked the nation.
At the time, the commission's chair, Murray Sinclair, estimated there were over 6,000 deaths at residential schools, though the actual number could be far higher. Volume 4 of the TRC report noted that the residential school death rate peaked in the late 1920s at more than five times the rate of the general population. That the last school was closed in 1997 makes the tragedy all the more unimaginable.
Those who cast doubt on the report's findings could not ignore the grim discovery of over 200 potential burial sites on the grounds of a former residential school on the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation, followed by 751 unmarked graves at a cemetery near the former Marieval Indian Residential School on the Cowessess First Nation, east of Regina.
The government's naming of September 30 as a National Day for Truth and Reconciliation acknowledges the tragedy and was in line with the commemoration principles laid out in the recommendations of the TRC report.
Flying Canadian flags at half-mast for a period immediately following the gruesome discoveries was appropriate. But during the federal election campaign, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that the flags would only be raised once “we have worked enough with Indigenous communities and leadership to make a clear determination that it was time to raise them again and continue the hard work of reconciliation.”
That could be some time, given that Sinclair wrote in his report that it may take generations before reconciliation is achieved.
We have few symbols that unite Canadians from coast to coast to coast. One of those is the Canadian flag. It is also the badge that our Canadian troops wear when those brave women and men serve us at home and abroad. And the flag is used to drape the coffins to those who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our freedoms.
On a far less serious note, Danny Williams, the former premier of my home province of Newfoundland and Labrador, ordered the Maple Leaf removed from all provincial government buildings in 2004, to protest Prime Minister Paul Martin's foot-dragging on a new offshore oil deal with the province. But most people in my province viewed that as a symbolic gesture and were uncomfortable that the flag was used as an ongoing device for political protest.
Few quarrelled with the idea of lowering the flag on May 30. In the days after the discovery of the unmarked graves, it was appropriate. It was a tangible sign of our collective grief and an act of remembrance for the victims and survivors of residential schools. But for how long? Does this mean there will be no lowering of the flag on Remembrance Day? Rather than permanent acts of symbolism, our attention would be better given to addressing the boil-water orders and the housing crisis on reserves. There's so much work to do; focusing on the flag is merely a distraction.
Reconciliation is a process, not a political statement. And the Canadian flag should not be used for political purposes.
We have a process for lowering the Canadian flag to recognize the death of important public figures, the men and women who have fought and died on our behalf and who have led our country in other ways. On November 11, for example, we honour the people who have paid the ultimate price for our freedoms by lowering the flag. Then, on November 12, we raise the flag again so that we can all salute the Maple Leaf and be united as Canadians across our great land.
The prime minister recently apologized for diminishing the importance of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation through his actions. He should not diminish the Canadian flag in the same way. Let's lower it on September 30 each year to mark the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, as we do on Remembrance Day — so we never forget.
Senator David M. Wells represents Newfoundland and Labrador and is chair of the Standing Committee on Audit and Oversight.
When the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) released its final report in 2015, it shocked the nation.
At the time, the commission's chair, Murray Sinclair, estimated there were over 6,000 deaths at residential schools, though the actual number could be far higher. Volume 4 of the TRC report noted that the residential school death rate peaked in the late 1920s at more than five times the rate of the general population. That the last school was closed in 1997 makes the tragedy all the more unimaginable.
Those who cast doubt on the report's findings could not ignore the grim discovery of over 200 potential burial sites on the grounds of a former residential school on the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation, followed by 751 unmarked graves at a cemetery near the former Marieval Indian Residential School on the Cowessess First Nation, east of Regina.
The government's naming of September 30 as a National Day for Truth and Reconciliation acknowledges the tragedy and was in line with the commemoration principles laid out in the recommendations of the TRC report.
Flying Canadian flags at half-mast for a period immediately following the gruesome discoveries was appropriate. But during the federal election campaign, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that the flags would only be raised once “we have worked enough with Indigenous communities and leadership to make a clear determination that it was time to raise them again and continue the hard work of reconciliation.”
That could be some time, given that Sinclair wrote in his report that it may take generations before reconciliation is achieved.
We have few symbols that unite Canadians from coast to coast to coast. One of those is the Canadian flag. It is also the badge that our Canadian troops wear when those brave women and men serve us at home and abroad. And the flag is used to drape the coffins to those who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our freedoms.
On a far less serious note, Danny Williams, the former premier of my home province of Newfoundland and Labrador, ordered the Maple Leaf removed from all provincial government buildings in 2004, to protest Prime Minister Paul Martin's foot-dragging on a new offshore oil deal with the province. But most people in my province viewed that as a symbolic gesture and were uncomfortable that the flag was used as an ongoing device for political protest.
Few quarrelled with the idea of lowering the flag on May 30. In the days after the discovery of the unmarked graves, it was appropriate. It was a tangible sign of our collective grief and an act of remembrance for the victims and survivors of residential schools. But for how long? Does this mean there will be no lowering of the flag on Remembrance Day? Rather than permanent acts of symbolism, our attention would be better given to addressing the boil-water orders and the housing crisis on reserves. There's so much work to do; focusing on the flag is merely a distraction.
Reconciliation is a process, not a political statement. And the Canadian flag should not be used for political purposes.
We have a process for lowering the Canadian flag to recognize the death of important public figures, the men and women who have fought and died on our behalf and who have led our country in other ways. On November 11, for example, we honour the people who have paid the ultimate price for our freedoms by lowering the flag. Then, on November 12, we raise the flag again so that we can all salute the Maple Leaf and be united as Canadians across our great land.
The prime minister recently apologized for diminishing the importance of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation through his actions. He should not diminish the Canadian flag in the same way. Let's lower it on September 30 each year to mark the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, as we do on Remembrance Day — so we never forget.
Senator David M. Wells represents Newfoundland and Labrador and is chair of the Standing Committee on Audit and Oversight.