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Canada: Justin Trudeau faces flak for holidaying on truth and reconciliation day
Canadian PM Justin Trudeau is facing flak from the indigenous community for vacationing in British Columbia on the first-ever National Day for Truth and Reconciliation to commemorate the tragedy of children and survivors of the erstwhile residential school system.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is facing flak from the indigenous community for vacationing on the first-ever National Day for Truth and Reconciliation to commemorate the tragedy of children and survivors of the erstwhile residential school system.
That day was observed on Thursday and Justin Trudeau’s official schedule stated he was having private meetings in Ottawa. However, he had actually flown off to the resort of Tofino in British Columbia for a family holiday and was photographed on the beach by the outlet Global News.
Trudeau’s office later updated his itinerary to reflect that reality.
That action drew criticism from groups like the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC). Condemning that decision, it issued a statement on Friday expressing “shock and dismay” over Justin Trudeau holidaying in Tofino.
NWAC CEO Lynne Groulx said that the “decision to duck out entirely” on this particular day was “astounding for its sheer level of callousness”.
Ironically, the day was made a federal statutory holiday by the Justin Trudeau government earlier this year. Trudeau did attend an event with the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation on Parliament Hill in the capital on Wednesday.
Emotions over the historic treatment of Canada’s indigenous people have been especially high this year due to the discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves of children at or close to the location of residential schools that were operated by the Catholic Church across the country from the mid-19th century into the 1970s.
This summer, 182 such graves were found near the town of Cranbrook in British Columbia, 751 in Saskatchewan and 215 in Kamloops, also in BC.
In a statement datelined Ottawa and released by the prime minister’s office on Thursday, Justin Trudeau was quoted as saying it was a day “to reflect on the painful and lasting impacts of residential schools in Canada, and to honour survivors, their families, and their communities” and “to remember the many children who never returned home”, adding that it “recognises that at least 150,000 Indigenous children from across the country were forcibly separated from their families and their communities”.
