Trudeau 'confident' flags can be raised by Remembrance Day
CBC
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says his government is in discussions with Indigenous leaders across the country and is confident that flags on government buildings can be raised in time to be lowered for Remembrance Day.
Speaking in Glasgow, where he is attending the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) , Trudeau said his government is working very closely with Indigenous communities and leaders as Nov. 11 approaches.
"There is an understanding of how important it is to be able to lower the flags on Remembrance Day to mark our veterans, to mark people, including Indigenous Peoples who've stepped up to fight for Canadian values and paid the ultimate sacrifice," Trudeau said.
"I'm confident that the conversations with Indigenous leadership on making sure we are able to lower the flags once again on Nov. 11 will come at the right solution," he said.
The flags on all federal buildings were lowered on May 30 following the discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves at the site of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia.
In September, Trudeau said he plans to keep the flags at half-mast in honour of the residential school students who never came home, until Indigenous communities and their leaders decide it's appropriate to raise them again.
"I think Canadians have seen with horror those unmarked graves across the country and realize that what happened decades ago isn't part of our history. It is an irrefutable part of our present," Trudeau said at the time.
Cassidy Caron, president of the Métis National Council, told CBC News in an email that she understands the federal government uses the lowering of flags to observe and remember many important issues.
She said that what is most important to her and to the Métis Nation is keeping the children's memories alive and that she is open to other ways to ensure that happens.
"What's most important is that Canadians never forget about this country's residential school history, the thousands of stolen children who never returned home, and the ongoing effects of intergenerational trauma," Caron said.
Watch: Trudeau comments on Canadian flag protocols for Remembrance Day:
She challenged "our federal colleagues to propose new and more permanent ways that they can work alongside Métis, Inuit and First Nations to ensure that all Canadians understand this country's residential school history and that no Canadian ever forgets."
The Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami declined to comment. The Assembly of First Nations said it was meeting to discuss the issue and would have more to say later in the week.
The Royal Canadian Legion says it has recommended to its branches that they begin their Remembrance Day ceremonies with their flags fully hoisted.
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