Vancouver City hall, Burrard Bridge to glow orange this Canada day

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – In an effort to acknowledge this country’s troubled history and ongoing treatment of Indigenous peoples, the City of Vancouver says it plans to light up city hall and the Burrard Street Bridge in Orange this Canada Day.

The City says it’s being done to commemorate the children found buried on the site of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School, writing in a tweet, “We understand these children are among many missing children who went to residential schools and whose unmarked graves are now being found.”

The announcement also comes as another discovery was confirmed, this time at a former residential school in Saskatchewan where more than 700 unmarked graves were reported. The city says, generally, its social media accounts highlight various places or events that make Vancouver a great, special place to live. But this year, it is choosing to recognize “Indigenous Peoples, the impact of colonization on those Nations and the steps that need to be taken to reconcile those harms.”

Canada Day has become a controversial topic in Canada in 2021, as Canadians come face to face with the dark history surrounding the country’s treatment of

Indigenous people, highlighted by the grim discovery of 215 children’s remains at the site of a former residential school in Kamloops. The hashtag “Cancel Canada Day” has been making the rounds on social media, and some municipalities, including Penticton, Kelowna, Port Hardy, and Victoria, have already cancelled celebrations ahead of July 1.

There have also been calls to cancel Canada Day celebrations in Vancouver. However, Councillor Sarah Kirby-Yung says city hall doesn’t have the power to do that, because Vancouver doesn’t have any civic-led celebrations.