Canada Day of reflection
CBRM to fly orange flag, Port Hawkesbury raises Indigenous flag
SYDNEY — The Cape Breton Regional Municipality plans to add a special moment of reflection to its virtual programming for Canada Day — as well as fly a solid orange flag at city hall.
The latter idea sprung to CBRM Mayor Amanda McDougall following a transit funding announcement at Open Hearth Park on Monday.
“I made a few calls and I found a shop in Dartmouth that will be able to provide us with an orange flag,” she said. “I'm actually heading to Halifax for a meeting and I'll be able to pick that flag up myself. And I will personally make sure that we fly that flag at city hall on Canada Day.”
McDougall also inquired about procuring Every Child Matters flags.
“Right now, the companies that are making those flags are just working out details with the First Nations communities and the fundraisers to make sure that all proceeds go to Every Child Matters,” she said.
“Until we can get an authentic Every Child Matters flag, we will be flying an orange flag (in its place).”
While city hall already flies the Indigenous flag, “we really need to do something more,” McDougall said.
The orange flag will honour Indigenous communities after the reported discoveries of unmarked graves of schoolchildren on the sites of residential schools in Kamloops, B.C., and Cowessess First Nation, Sask.
SPECIAL PROGRAMMING
Live events to celebrate Canada Day previously had been cancelled due to the COVID19 pandemic, so the municipality instead opted to
to go with a digital Canadian Multiculturalism Day display, live-streamed on CBRM's YouTube Channel and Facebook page (this display also ran on Sunday).
In a Facebook post, McDougall also mentioned the addition of a programming space for a moment of reflection, “offering a beautiful online compilation that focuses on the theme “Better Together.” This virtual experience will include messages of hope and kindness from Nova Scotia's former lieutenant governor Mayann Francis, Cape Breton fiddler Natalie MacMaster, Blue
Rodeo co-frontman Greg Keelor and sportscaster Ron MacLean. Music from The Sons of Membertou and powerful teachings of Michael R. Denny on the generational effects of residential schools.”
“CBRM council members will be wearing orange and black on July 1 in the support of the Every Child Matters campaign and are asking the community to do the same.”
CANADA DAY ACTIVITIES CANCELLED
Meanwhile, Port Hawkesbury held an emergency town council meeting to discuss how best to proceed with the July 1 plans and decided to mark it as a day of reflection. Council voted to cancel all
Canada Day activities and invited its residents to observe a day of reflection.
Earlier, town council approved of adding a fourth flagpole to permanently fly the Indigenous flag, but according to Mayor Brenda Chisholm-Beaton, that likely won't arrive until October.
The Indigenous flag is, however, currently flying at the Civic Centre on Reeves Street, but will be lowered to half-mast, along with its other two flags, starting
July 1, Chisholm-Beaton said.
“We need to rally around our First Nation communities so that we can become better allies,” she said. “It's really hard to fathom what's going on right now.”