Montreal students participate in Spirit Walk for Truth and Reconciliation Day

Lester B. Pearson School Board students participated in a Spirit Walk with a local Indigenous CPE on Friday to highlight Truth and Reconciliation day, also known as Orange Shirt Day, on September 30.

Hundreds of students from the REACH East program, Verdun Elementary School, Riverview Elementary School, Beurling High School and the Rising Sun CPE participated.

“The first year was three years ago, and it was just our daycare. We’ve always outreached to community members…to come and see, just come and learn what we’re about,” said Katherine Bailey from the CPE Rising Sun, an Indigenous daycare in Montreal.

“It’s a community event, bringing everybody together,” said Lori McKergow, the principal of Verdun Elementary School.

“Coming to this march, it really hits when you hear about the personal testimonies of what survivors and relatives of survivors have had to go through,” said one of the students participating in the march.

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How to talk to kids about Orange Shirt Day 

The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, which is also known as Orange Shirt Day, raises awareness of the impacts of residential schools and honours the many Indigenous children who died at those facilities. The day also acknowledges survivors and the need to support those individuals and their families who suffered through those school years.

On Saturday, September 30, the annual Montreal March for the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation – Every Child Matters – will take place at 1 p.m. The gathering point to begin the march is around the Monument George-Etienne-Cartier, in Mount-Royal Park.